At Image­First™ we are ded­i­cat­ed to build­ing a bet­ter future for our busi­ness, our com­mu­ni­ty, and our clients. This com­mit­ment is now pow­ered by the sun. We are proud to announce the instal­la­tion of a new, five-row solar field at our Grin­nell, Iowa, man­u­fac­tur­ing plant. This project is a sig­nif­i­cant step for­ward, sep­a­rate from our sign pro­duc­tion, and is designed to boost our oper­a­tional effi­cien­cy and embody our ded­i­ca­tion to a sus­tain­able future.

This ground-mount array fea­tures 300 high-effi­cien­cy Jinko solar mod­ules, a 162.0 kW DC name­plate sys­tem, and SolarEdge invert­ers and opti­miz­ers. The sys­tem is pro­ject­ed to pro­duce an esti­mat­ed 226,813 kWh of elec­tric­i­ty annu­al­ly, which is antic­i­pat­ed to off­set 106.3% of our annu­al ener­gy consumption.

Our new solar field is a cus­tom-engi­neered solu­tion from 1 Source Solar. It aligns with our core val­ues of con­tin­u­ous improve­ment and strate­gic invest­ment. By gen­er­at­ing our own clean ener­gy, we are strength­en­ing our busi­ness in two key areas: prof­itabil­i­ty and sustainability.

This invest­ment in our facil­i­ty pro­vides tan­gi­ble ben­e­fits for our trade-only sign sup­pli­er partners:

• Finan­cial Sta­bil­i­ty: Our solar field is esti­mat­ed to have a return on invest­ment (ROI) of just three years and lever­ages sig­nif­i­cant finan­cial incen­tives, includ­ing a 30% Fed­er­al Tax Cred­it. By reduc­ing our oper­a­tional costs, we are bet­ter posi­tioned to main­tain sta­ble pric­ing and pass on long-term val­ue to our clients.

• A Com­mit­ment to a Green­er Future: As an archi­tec­tur­al sig­nage man­u­fac­tur­er, we under­stand the impor­tance of qual­i­ty and longevi­ty in every prod­uct we cre­ate. Our invest­ment in solar pow­er demon­strates our com­mit­ment to envi­ron­men­tal respon­si­bil­i­ty and ener­gy inde­pen­dence. We are active­ly reduc­ing our car­bon foot­print, which reflects a grow­ing pri­or­i­ty for busi­ness­es and com­mu­ni­ties nationwide.

• Oper­a­tional Excel­lence: The new solar field will pro­vide a reli­able source of pow­er, pro­tect­ing us against the volatil­i­ty of ris­ing ener­gy costs. This sta­bil­i­ty allows us to con­tin­ue focus­ing on what we do best — deliv­er­ing high-qual­i­ty cus­tom sign fab­ri­ca­tion and exte­ri­or sign engi­neer­ing with unmatched effi­cien­cy for our com­mer­cial sign partners.

This is more than just a new ener­gy source; it’s a step for­ward for our busi­ness, our com­mu­ni­ty, and our environment. 

Con­nect with us if you have any questions!