BY JOHN HOLLAND

APRIL 26, 2016 5:06 PM

Panels will meet most of electricity demand and shade visitors’ cars

OAKDALE

Solar panels will provide most of the electricity for the cheese plant along Highway 120. And some of them will shade the cars of visitors to this popular spot.

Oakdale Cheese & Specialties expects to generate 87 percent of the power it now buys from Pacific Gas and Electric Co., co-owner Jessica Bulk said Tuesday. The $175,000 system is about two weeks from completion by California Solar Innovators, based in Modesto.

The plant roof holds 70 of the panels. The other 150 stand above 16 of the parking spaces, well-positioned for a summer sun that can bake car interiors to well past 100 degrees.

“If it can do double duty and provide shade for our customers, it’s exciting,” Bulk said.

She is married to cheesemaker John Bulk, whose parents, Dutch immigrants Walter and Lenneke Bulk, started the business near Escalon in 1983. It moved in 1995 to the current site, along a major route for Sierra Nevada visitors. The business has eight employees along with the family.

The plant turns out about 3,000 pounds of cheese per week from purchased milk, a tiny slice of the industry in Stanislaus and Merced counties. Most is gouda in various flavors, but there’s also edam, white cheddar and a spreadable product called quark.

Jessica Bulk, cheese company co-owner

The site has a gift shop with the company’s own cheese, baked goods and sandwiches, along with various foods from other producers. Several farm animals roam the grounds.

The power from the sun will go to refrigeration and other plant uses, and to pumping the well that keeps the landscaping lush.

Bob and Barb Sykes of Lake Don Pedro saw the parking lot panels going up during a visit to buy gouda in cumin, garden herb and Mediterranean flavors.

“It benefits the customer and it benefits the business,” Bob Sykes said.

Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/news/business/article74081442.html#storylink=cpy