As if farmers’ markets weren’t already environmentally friendly enough, one market in Albuquerque, New Mexico is now taking that ideal to the next level. Albuquerque’s Downtown Growers’ Market is now the country’s first farmers’ market to be entirely powered by solar energy.
The Downtown Action Team (DAT), a group whose mission is to “creatively plan, manage, and develop Dowtown Albuquerque to be the best mid-sized Downtown in the USA” worked with Cleanswitch, a solar energy system design and installation company, to provide solar panels on wheels for powering the market. The DAT also sought guidance from the University of New Mexico to help develop the project. They hope to show the public that the sun can power food, not only from seed, but also to sale. As Christopher Goblet, deputy director of DAT told New Mexico Business Weekly, “Renewable energy is essential to our economic and environmental sustainability. This tactile display of solar power in action hopefully will inspire more people to look for new ways to incorporate renewable energy into their own lives.”
The solar panels power everything at the Growers’ Market from the ATMs to the espresso machines. With over 90 vendors open from June 5th to October 30th the market is sure to reach a large constomer base and hopefully show them that a little solar power goes a long way.
