Oceanside CA— On Friday, April 29, 2016, officials at Genentech unveiled their latest project to enhance energy efficiency at the over 500,000 sq ft. Oceanside location at 1 Antibody Way.
A site-wide solar project has been developed with workers spending more than 20,000 installation hours positioning over 17,000 solar panels. The system is expected to produce the equivalent amount of solar power, over its lifetime, as it would to power nearly 12,000 average California homes for one year.

“The Roche Company [Genentech’s parent company] really focuses on sustainability as an overall company philosophy. ” said Don Fitzgerald, Vice President and General Manager of Oceanside Product Operations. “In fact, Roche’s 2020 goal is to have twenty percent of its energy from sustainable sources. Not just in California but globally.”
Roche currently operates 156 facilities worldwide. The Oceanside site manufactures four drugs for the treatment of cancer and rheumatoid arthritis including Rituxan and Avastin.

“Planning for the project began about five years ago” said Andy Williams, Genentech Head of Facilities. “Upon its completion, we now have the largest, non-utility, solar installation in San Diego County.”
Approximately 4,000 solar panels were installed atop the buildings on campus along another 10,000+ ground mount panels. The remainder were installed on top of carports in the Genentech parking lots and combined, produce 3.8 megawatts, AC. The carport installations are similar to what the City of Oceanside will be installing at several location around town [Link].

“The panels, on a real full sunny day, supply almost 80% of the power needed during peak usage.” explained Mr. Williams, “We also have a unique battery storage capability so as the system over produces for what we are using, we are able to store 1 megawatt of power. That will come in handy during the hot days of summer when we will be able to draw upon that stored energy and reduce our dependence on the grid.”
California State Senator Patricia Bates said ” Genentech is certainly a leader, not just in our state, but the nation and the proof is here today. Not just in the solar project but in the pharmaceutical industry.”
Among those in attendance were; Ryan Williams representing the office of US Senator, Dianne Feinstein, Oceanside Deputy-Mayor, Chuck Lowery, Oceanside City Council-members, Jack Feller and Jerry Kern and Oceanside City Manager, Michelle Skaggs Lawrence.