PHOTO BY JENNA FRISBY / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
SOLAR FIELD … The Village of Edgerton recognized Covington Box for their solar field on Thursday, June 13th. The impact of the solar field has given more sustainability to the village as the entire factory is self-sufficient in their electricity due to the solar field powering 100% of the plant’s electricity needs. Pictured are Mayor Bob Day, Tony Fifer- Covington Box President, Mike Rodgers – Covington Box General Manager, and Dawn Fitzcharles – Village Administrator.
By: Jenna Frisby
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jenna@thevillagereporter.com
The Village of Edgerton recognized Covington Box on Thursday, June 13th at 10:00 a.m. for the development and use of their very own solar field.
Though the solar field has been up and running now for about year and a half, the village wanted to recognize the company for their self-sufficient thinking in originally developing the solar field.
The company, which was originally started in 1981, installed the solar field consisting of five arrays which include 130 panels in January of 2023.
Their installers for this project were AG Technologies. Though the initial investment for the solar field was $150,000.
Though they were able to obtain some of the funds through a grant with the USDA, the rest were funds they invested leaving them with a turnaround return time of between 5-7 years.
The solar field allows Covington Box to run the company off of the solar panel energy alone. Tony Fifer, Covington Box President explains further, “The solar provides 100% of our electrical needs in our 90,000 square foot building.”
Meaning they haven’t had to source out any of their energy, the solar panels are enough to run all the electricity for the entire plant. This results in Covington Box saving between $10,000-$15,000 per year.
The carbon footprint that the solar panels remove from the equation for the company means that the company has truly been on the frontlines of being eco-friendly and contributing to the environment.
Just this year alone it would take 4,350 trees planted to absorb the CO2 that’s air generated from non-renewable energy.
In other words, 40% of energy related CO2 emissions are due to the burning of fossil fuels for electricity generation. Covington Box has taken that completely out of the equation with the use of their solar field.
The solar field project would not have happened without the help of the Village of Edgerton and their support behind Covington Box.
Fifer states that, “Mayor Day and Dawn Fitzcharles from the Village of Edgerton have been great to work with. They supported our efforts to bring a clean energy source to Covington and the village from day one.”
The company has simply taken the first step and leap in the village for renewable energy and resources.
Covington Box also has another solar field at their Waterloo, IN location. That solar field is a complete 1.4-acre solar field that was installed back in 2018 and was a $1 million project.
At that location Covington Box currently has 85 workers, and in 2018 they received the award for Manufacturer of the Year for Northeast Indiana.
While their Edgerton location may be smaller, with only 5 employees, their jobs could not be more vital to the company as a whole unit.
At their Edgerton location, Covington Box focuses primarily on the production of their cremation boxes and their caskets, all of which are made out of corrugated cardboard.
The boxes serve just as a typical casket would for a fraction of the cost. The use of cardboard allows for a lighter box that is biodegradable once it is buried. While most funeral homes will not inform families of this option, it is an option and can be requested at any funeral home.
More information about Covington Box and their products can be found online at www.covingtonbox.com