All-States Medical Supply

Commercial Spotlight: All- States Medical Supply

“It feels great to be able to produce more energy than we consume.” This powerful statement, made by Marcus Suess, President of All- States Medical Supply stands to demonstrate the viability of on-site solar energy systems. While more and more businesses are investing in solar energy, All- States is one of the first in the region, if not the first, to install an on-site solar electric system that will generate all of the electricity used in their facility, making them net- zero consumers.  “Not only does the environment benefit, but lowering our company expenses gives us another competitive advantage to keep us ahead of the game,” he said of going solar.

All-States Medical Supply is a successful family-owned business, founded in 1998 by Marcus and his wife Carolyn. As stated on their Industry Profile with the Henderson County Partnership for Economic Development, their pathway to embarking on this entrepreneurial adventure has been a remarkable journey, and today they employ about 45 employees in the Western North Carolina Region, and proudly serve over 10,000 patients.  Their patient-centered approach in providing quality medical supplies and equipment is at the core of their values, and can be attributed to their growth. However, behind this service is a savvy business sense that recently led to their investment in solar energy. “We were interested in creating a long- term solution to our competitive environment. We plan to create jobs for many years here in Fletcher, and have to lower our overhead to stay competitive. We had other options, but one that helps the environment as well as helping ASM for many years to come seemed like the perfect combination.”

With an expected lifetime of 40 years plus, the 104 kW solar array that they recently installed does indeed offer both economic and environmental benefits.  It is projected to generate 126,992 kilowatt hours of clean energy annually, which will account for significant savings over time. The carbon offset of this clean energy generation is estimated to be about 33.6 tons annually as well. As quantifying these savings is very important to All-States, they chose to install third-party monitoring software by DECK Monitoring (our featured Vendor- see their spotlight for details.) Their live, real-time monitoring lets All-State administrators, and other interested persons, see the system’s production.  (As of today, it shows nearly 14,000 kW hours of electricity have been generated since the monitoring came online on January 18 of this year. This actually exceeds generation projections, which makes checking the numbers even more gratifying.) Marcus states that it is also instrumental in “making employees aware of the real time, positive effects we can all make on our environmental impact in this world and how it starts locally.”

The expansive roof of All-State’s facility in Fletcher, just outside of Asheville, NC, was ideal for a solar installation, and the 416 Samsung  250-watt modules were laid out in two sections, with 13 strings of 16 modules on each.  Tilted up to 15 degrees, they orient to 30 degrees west of south.  Mounted on DPW rails, roof penetration was not necessary, which All-States wanted to avoid.  A Solectria  PV195 kW 480 VAC inverter makes the electricity grid-compatible with Duke Energy, through which the system is metered through a buy- all, sell- all contract.

That this system can serve to educate All-State’s employees, clients, and the community at large about the viability and benefits of on-site solar energy systems is important to Marcus and the All-States team. They are excited to share their experience in an upcoming celebration, “Health Care Goes Solar” on April 24 (see our event calendar for details.)