A collaborative effortAshley St. John
Foster's Wine Estates Americas Co., headquartered in Napa,
Calif., is an operating company of Foster's Group Ltd., based in
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Foster's Wine Estates Americas
produces premium-quality wines, including Beringer, Lindemans,
Penfolds, Rosemount Estate and Wolf Blass, and sells about 20
million cases of wine per year.
Foster's Wine Estates Americas has nine wineries throughout
California, four in Napa. In June 2007, The Bright Group Inc.,
Napa, a company that represents California-based commercial roofing
and waterproofing product manufacturers, was asked to evaluate
Foster's Wine Estates Americas' roofing program. As part of its
evaluation, The Bright Group proposed and negotiated the
installation of solar roof systems at three wineries in Napa,
including Beringer, Stags' Leap and Etude Wineries, as well as Asti
Winery in Cloverdale, Calif.
The wineries would host the solar roof systems for 25 years and
purchase electricity at a reduced rate from Perpetual Energy
Systems LLC, Woodland Hills, Calif., the project financier.
Perpetual Energy Systems would own the solar systems, renewable
energy certificates and carbon credits determined by the systems'
output and would use conventional financing, construction, and
permanent debt and equity, as well as federal energy tax credits,
to fund the entire installation without capital investment from
Foster's Wine Estates Americas.
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