The San Jose, California-based company is cutting the ribbon on its solar installation on Thursday. The project - which uses solar modules from another California company, SunPower - will produce an estimated 18 million kilowatt-hours of clean power over the course of its 25-year useful life.
"As we designed our 'green' facility, we realized that integrating solar as a clean, silent form of energy, made both economic and environmental sense," Brocade CEO Mike Klayko said.
While California utilities are using more renewable power thanks to state directives, green energy only makes up a small part of their portfolios at the moment. Pacific Gas & Electric, for example, buys just 17.5 percent of its energy from green sources.
It can be prudent for California businesses to invest in solar energy and insulate themselves from rising fossil-fuel costs - a point not lost on Klayko. He noted that Brocade's investment in solar "offers a direct hedge against the rising cost of electricity."
