THOMASVLLE — Nordfab of Thomasville has completed the installation of 2,380 solar panels on the rooftop of its new 55,000-square-foot warehouse and production facility. Solar power began being generated in late August. President Erik Olshall championed the solar initiative, said Lynda Smith, Nordfab’s marketing and communications manager.

“It was about sustainability for him,” she said. “He grew up in Sweden, where solar power was popular then. ... He wanted to bring that here.” The rooftop solar system will produce an estimated 1,417 megawatt hours of electricity per year. That means 47% of Nordfab’s estimated energy consumption will be produced by the solar panels and will also reduce Nordfab’s carbon footprint by 1,004 metric tons. This is the equivalent of 218 passenger cars being taken off the road or the energy needed to power 121 homes for a year. Nordfab has one of the five largest rooftop solar installations in the Triad.

“It covers our new rooftop for our new warehouse and much of the former or initial building, as well,” she said. Also, the the plant is installing five car-charging stations. The solar array installation began just after the completion of Nordfab’s new production and warehouse space in April 2023, part of the Nordfab Now project, which will allow the company to ship its most commonly ordered products the day after an order is placed. The expansion is part of a $5.5 million growth project intended to provide faster and better customer service.

“Sustainability is a business word used a lot,” she said. “We actually care about it.” Nordfab, a manufacturer of ductwork used in environmental filtration systems, announced the plant expansion and solar panel expansion at its Thomasville facility in February 2022. The expansion also created 25 new jobs. A performance-based grant of $50,000 from the state’s One North Carolina Fund was awarded to Nordfab to help with the expansion, based on a company investment of $4.1 million. The OneNC Fund provides financial assistance to local governments to help attract economic investment and to create jobs. Companies receive no money upfront and must meet job creation and capital investment targets to qualify for payment. All OneNC grants require a matching grant from local governments.

Nordfab’s environmental filtration systems are used in dust, mist and fume collection systems around the world. In 1990, the company introduced its Quick-Fit clamp-together ductwork. It is now the world’s largest supplier of clamp-together ducting for industrial ventilation. “So not only are we making ductwork that cleans the air inside other industries, we’re making clean energy,” Smith said. Nordfab Americas’ project in Thomasville increased the company’s manufacturing footprint to 180,000 square feet of production and warehouse space.