Tuesday, October 20, 2009 at 11:42:44 AM - by Danny Vo

McGlade's on the Pier, a restaurant on the Cape May Promenade in Cape May, N.J., anticipates energy savings of $12,000 per year thanks to solar power.

It was just before Labor Day that owner Micki McGlade had the 17-kilowatt solar array installed. Hers is the first restaurant in Cape May, a resort town on the southern tip of New Jersey, to install solar panels.

Mercury Solar Systems was the installer. Mercury president Jared Haines noted McGlade's expected cost savings but added that "the environmental impact is equally compelling." The system should offset 32,251 pounds of carbon emissions per year.

At the same time that independent restaurateurs like Micki McGlade are turning to solar energy as a way to cut expenses, corporate restaurant chains are taking notice, too. Chipotle, the Denver-based Mexican food chain, recently announced plans to install solar panels at 75 of its restaurants.

Illustrating large corporations' energy impact, Chipotle said that the solar panels should offset some 41 million pounds of carbon emissions.

Whether they manage large or small restaurants, though, owners will agree with McGlade when she says, "A solar energy system just made both economic and environmental sense."