Photo courtesy of GM.

Photo courtesy of GM.

General Motors is leading the automotive industry in solar energy use in the U.S., according to the Solar Means Business report from the Solar Energy Industries Association.

The automotive company will break ground later this month on an 850-kilowatt array at Bowling Green (Ky.) Assembly that will be the largest solar installation by any automaker in Kentucky and will generate 1.2 million kilowatt hours of energy annually, enough to produce about 850 Corvettes.

In addition to ranking as the top automotive user of solar, GM also ranks No. 20 of the top 25 solar-powered companies in the U.S. GM joined SEIA as a partner in 2013 to advocate for a strong U.S. solar industry. Since joining, GM has added 10 solar arrays and has helped launch the Business Renewables Center, which aims to accelerate renewable energy use.

In the next several months, GM will add more than 2 megawatts of solar power to its facilities, including a 466-kilowatt array at its Rochester Operations facility in New York, and an 800-kilowatt array at its Warren Transmission plant built in partnership with DTE Energy.

In total, the company will house 11.4 megawatts of solar arrays across 16 U.S. facilities. Together these arrays generate nearly 15 million kilowatt hours of energy, avoiding the equivalent carbon emissions from 11 million pounds of coal burned.

Globally, GM will feature a solar footprint of 48 megawatts at 22 facilities, equivalent to the size of 130 American football fields.

To view the report, click here.

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