Solar trend catches fire

CALIFORNIA - According to Rob Threlkeld, supply contracts and green initiatives manager with General Motors Corp., the Detroit automaker is looking to reduce the financial impact of peak utility rates and energy instability while simultaneously increasing the overall productivity of its global facilities - including millions of square feet of roof space - by installing thin-film solar panels on its plant roofs.

"The solar suppliers are interested in selling more of their product, we're obviously interested in installing more and we've got financiers who want to make a stable cash flow off of it," he says, "so between the three of us, we're running models to find out where it makes the most sense."

GM's Fontana, Calif., warehouse solar installation, completed through a partnership with Constellation Energy, is just one example of a hot trend that features manufacturers partnering with a growing number of companies that provide turnkey solar installations and power purchase agreements (PPAs).

This trend features high-profile manufacturers from PepsiCo Inc. to Estee Lauder Companies to Hewlett-Packard Co., which recently installed a large-scale solar power installation through a PPA with SunPower Corp., that features 5,000 solar panels atop its R&D manufacturing site in San Diego, Calif.

"Regardless of what they may believe about global warming, CEOs want to be green because their supply chain and customers want them to, but they don't want to waste money," says Tom Hunton, president of American Capital Energy. "With solar, not only can they be green, but they can have solid ROI, with an average three- to five-year payback on many projects."

As hot as it is, solar is just one face of a green energy explosion, as other manufacturers choose on-site wind turbines (including rooftop "architectural wind" installations) and co-generation, while still others leverage nearby landfills and turn manufacturing byproducts into power.

With renewable energy mandates in the works worldwide, competition among green energy providers is likely to continue to heat up. And as costs fall, manufacturers squeezed between rising energy costs and carbon risk should see expanded access to increasingly viable renewable alternatives.

Related News

china high tech roads

Roads Need More Electricity: They Will Make It Themselves

BEIJING - As more and more capabilities are added to roads instead of simply covering a country with extra roads, they are starting to make their own electricity, notably as solar road surface but then with added silent wind turbines, photovoltaic verges and barriers and more.

That toll gate, street light and traffic monitoring system all need electricity. Later, roads that deice and charge vehicles at speed will need huge amounts of electricity. For now, electricity for road systems is provided by very expensive infrastructure to the grid except for a few solar/ wind street lights in China and Korea for…

READ MORE
gulf power

Gulf Power to Provide One-Time Bill Decrease of 40%

READ MORE

powerlines

Massive power line will send Canadian hydropower to New York

READ MORE

U.S. Electric Vehicle Market Share Dips in Q1 2024

U.S. Electric Vehicle Market Share Dips in Q1 2024

READ MORE

ontario nuclear plant

Analysis: Why is Ontario’s electricity about to get dirtier?

READ MORE