Looks like GM is going to go greener starting with the end of this summer, as it has signed an agreement with DTE Energy that will put 512 kW of solar power onto six acres located at the south of the Detroit-Hamtramck facility. The power will feed some 54,750 energy-hungry Volt plug-in hybrids per year.
The investment is somewhere around $3 million. Because the installation will be placed over the south facing side of the plant, it is expected to yield high efficiency figures. 150 cars will be able to get charged at the same time from GM’s solar power plant.
Everything looks fine on the side of green energy generation, but GM’s profit will not be very high. The 20-year agreement will allow GM to save $15,000 every year, but will nevertheless clean up the way they do business (in the environmental point of view, at least). So far, GM has been using only 1.4 percent of its power from renewables.
Plans to include an oxidizer that cuts down carbon output, low-consumption lighting and many other initiatives GM currently has will save the company over $3 million per year, so the solar plant will make economic sense in about one year.
[via azocleantech]
