London | United Kingdom
The environment and green movement has just received a major raise for its cause by luxury car manufacturer Bentley. In an attempt to reduce the brands carbon footprint as well as to make its factory more energy efficient, the luxury brand has announced that construction has started on the larges ever solar-powered car port in the United Kingdom.
Situated at Bentley’s factory headquarters in Crewe, the new solar complex will cover the colleague car park. The new addition will see 10 000 solar panels increase the total solar panels at Bentley’s factory to 30 815, which is enough energy to power over 1 750 homes. The new addition will add a capacity of 2.7 MW to the manufacturing needs. Bentley’s Member of the Board for Manufacturing, Peter Bosch, said:
“We continue to focus on new initiatives that reinforce our commitment to the environment, whether this is introducing alternative powertrain technologies in future models, or our award-winning work to reduce the environmental impact of our factory. This solar installation is another example of how we can make our factory more sustainable by using technological innovation. This helps us produce extraordinary cars with responsibly-sourced materials in an efficient manner, while continually striving to reduce the company’s environmental impact.”
The new solar addition will span an area of 16 426m² and will cover 1 378 parking spaces. FlexiSolar has been awarded the contract to both install and operate this extensive addition. The system has the capacity to cover 24% of Bentley’s electrical energy requirement as well as to reduce the factory’s CO₂ by up to 3 300 tonnes per year. This move towards a greener manufacturing process is on the heels of the recent announcement that Bentley has become the ‘first UK automotive manufacturer to be awarded the Carbon Trust Standards for carbon, water and waste, further reducing the environmental impact of its operations.’ The first major solar panel installation by the luxury car manufacturer was completed in 2013 and consists of 20 815 solar panels installed on the factory’s roof.
