The folks who work at MBK Tape Solutions in Los Angeles, Calf., have only to wait until the city’s utility inspector signs off on their new system to start realizing the savings of a sophisticated rooftop solar panel system.

Soliant Energy installed photovoltaic panels late last week that are equipped with a tracking system to follow the sun from rise to set.

“It’s a pretty cool system,” said MBK president Jeff Kaminski. “As long as the sun is up, you’re getting energy. It’s really efficient.”

Kaminski has toyed with the idea of going solar for several years, he said. He’s always been very environmentally conscious and has lively conversations with his daughter, who works for an environmental conservation organization.

“I’ve been trying to reduce my own carbon footprint for years,” Kaminski said.

This project has been in the back of his mind for a long time. But he started to seriously consider it about a year ago. He began contacting agencies and doing his homework. He decided to work with Soliant, even though it was a young start up, because he liked the technology they presented. The panels are equipped with a tracking device and follow the sun.

“Where most systems will have a bell curve,” Kaminski said, “our energy production should look pretty much vertical.”

It took about seven or eight months to get from the beginning planning stages to the actual installation, and he’s still waiting for the L.A. Department of Energy and Power to sign off on the grid connected system, so he can flip switch and let it begin generating energy.

Kaminski said he was pleased with the speed at which the project progressed, though he suspects Soliant will get quicker as it gains experience.

He expects the system to take care of much of his adhesive manufacturing company’s energy needs. The heavy equipment at the facility only runs from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., hours when the sun is usually shining. And the rest of the office shuts down completely over the weekend, Kaminski said.

“This has been very exciting,” Kaminski said of the experience of finding and installing solar. Now he just looks forward to using it.

Image courtesy of caramelbella.com.