Solar
about Radco Products, Inc
In 1925, Claude Radford started as "Radco Ironworks" manufacturing decorative and functional railings, gates et cetera for commercial applications, such as hotels in the Glendale, California area.
In 1946, Claude Radford and son, George incorporated as Radco Products, Inc. Operations quickly expanded. In the early 1950's steel encased windows were added to the product line, and a facility was opened in Burbank.
Radco Products outgrew its existing locations by 1956, evolving with the growing market in aluminum products and moving to new facilities in Santa Maria with room to grow. Radco focused on new demands by purchasing an 800-ton press for extruded stock lengths, and later aquiring a 1550-ton press.
The solar water heating product-line began taking shape in 1978 with Radco filling needs for systems and components to work in diverse climates across the nation.
By 1979, Radco had moved to a nearby 33,000SF facility. Within a year, Radco was pioneering dual glazed units using hand washed glass and hand made extrusions of insulation spacer material. The company had also established a major presence in aluminum door bottoms, and thresholds in the Central California Coast --concentrating on local markets from Santa Maria to Monterey. Radco's quality offerings and pricing kept significant competition away.
By 1984, Radco had established itself as a solar industry leader. 22,000 square feet of Radco Solar Collectors were installed on the rooftops of student residence buildings at UCLA, prior to the Olympics. Read more at an archived version of the Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology (CREST)'s Solar Catalog 2.14 University of California/Los Angeles.
August the same year, the 20 story, 127 unit Greenview Condominium (Honolulu, Hawaii) installed a solar water heating system with 2,400 sq.ft. of Radco Solar Collectors. Read more at an archived version of CREST's Solar Catalog 3.4 The Greenview Condominium.
In 1995, Grand Solar, Inc selected Radco Products to manufacture a water purification system based on combining solar water heating technology with pasteurization methods. Pasteurizing water can produce drinking water from cisterns, streams and effluents by destroying 99.9 percent of its bacteria, including salmonella. The Sol*Saver units do not require electricity, pumps, chemicals or boiling. The largest systems generate 200 gallons of potable water a day and save the equivalent of burning more than 18 tons of wood a year. Read more at Grand Solar's website SafeWaterSystems.com.
In 2006, the facility expanded to accommodate the growing demand for Radco solar products. Radco Products, Inc continues building on in its tradition of manufacturing high quality products in advancing markets, such as solar hot water heating products from our 60,000 square foot "State of the Art" manufacturing plant.