California Pistachio farm run on solar energy

A Central Valley, California, pistachio farm has installed six acres of solar panels to power the agricultural center.

The project was completed by a California solar installer, Bechtel Power Corp., and the 1-megawatt structure is the first one in Central Valley, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Nichols Farms, a 50 year-old pistachio farm, will have 70 percent of their electrical demand covered by solar energy, the news source reported. The solar panels are propped up on poles, and the waterless energy setup does not cause permanent shadows.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, almost 9,000 farms and ranches around the country are powered by solar panels, methane digesters or wind turbines, either in part, or in full, the news source said. Of those, approximately 8,000 of these farms had solar installations.

California, one of the leading states in solar power, currently has almost 2,000 energy systems that work on renewable resources, according to the news source. Solar panels work by concentrating sunlight onto "solar cells," which absorb the light and turn it into usable electricity.