Mt. Pleasant---Debate the nutritional benefits of kringle all you want, but a maker of the pastry has made a major personal commitment toward environmental good health: O & H Danish Bakery is now using solar-generated electricity to help power its one year-old facility on Washington Ave.
A dedication ceremony to mark the installation of hundreds of solar panels on the new building's roof was held Tuesday.
Solar power won’t make the kringle taste any better, but O & H owner Eric Olesen thinks there are some intangible benefits. "You know kringle--baking--is an emotional experience for many people," Olesen said in an interview. "We have so many customers that just love the baking we do--they love to share it. Maybe this is just a little talking point for some of them that'll make it that much more exciting."
The bottom line though continues to be the bottom line. The solar panels are expected to generate at least a-quarter of the company's power needs, with break-even on the investment coming in about eight years.
State Representative Cory Mason of Racine applauds the decision to go solar. "You often here people say this can't be done or it won't work," Mason said. "But what's great about O & H stepping forward and doing this--whether it's the wind turbines that SCJ has or the solar panels here at O & H...I think we're proving on the ground that renewable energy does in fact work."
Mason was referring to the two turbines at Waxdale not far from O & H.
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