In Maryland, food giant Perdue will draw more energy from solar power as Washington Gas Energy Services recently announced it will team with Standard Solar Partner to develop solar panel systems at two of the food company's buildings.

Perdue entered into a 15-year agreement with WGES to purchase electricity generated from the photovoltaic systems at a guaranteed price; Standard Solar affirms that the solar systems - comprised of 11,000 solar panels - will be installed by September of this year. According to executives from the company, Perdue plans on installing one solar panel system at its corporate offices and another at its feed mill in Delaware.

WGES will own and operate the solar systems and anticipates that they will supply about 90 percent of the electricity needs at both Perdue facilities. In total, the photovoltaic systems will generate about 3,700 megawatt hours of electricity every year - enough to power 340 homes.

Steve Schwalb, Perdue's vice president of environmental sustainability, said that the solar energy deal fits in with the company's commitment to clean technology: "Stewardship is one of our company's core values, so this is a perfect fit for the way we do business. Using solar power means we'll have a clean energy source that doesn't pollute or create greenhouse gases, while lowering Perdue's energy costs over the life of the project."