14 DAY TRIAL // Only yesterday, Renault made it public news that, thanks to the six giant solar photovoltaic (PV) systems it installed across France, the company became the proud owner of the world's largest PV system in the automotive industry.
Taken together, these PV systems have a solar power generating capacity of 59MW, and company representatives explain that this allows Renault to cut down on its annual CO2 emissions by as much as 200 tonnes.
Apparently, these giant solar PV systems extend over an area of 400,000 square meters, which is basically the equivalent of 60 soccer pitches.
According to the company's official website, “Renault’s photovoltaic installations will help to make a 200-tonne reduction in the CO2 emitted annually by electric engine production (calculated on the basis of the energy mix in France), the equivalent of 550 round-the-world trips by an internal-combustion vehicle emitting an average 100 g/km of CO2 or a fleet of roughly 1,500 vehicles each travelling 15,000 km a year.”
Should these solar PV systems prove their worth both in terms of cutting down on the company's ecological footprint, and as far as reducing electricity costs is concerned, Renault plans to green up the working agenda of several other of its facilities.
Thus, the company has plans to debut similar PV systems in Slovenia, Morocco, South America and South Korea, Chile and Romania.
Interestingly enough, these PV systems also help protect the cars manufactured by the company prior to their being delivered to customers worldwide.
As Business Green explains, the solar panels combine into a canopy which can withstand impact and hail (i.e. pellets of frozen air), and can therefore keep the vehicles safe from potential faults caused by storms.
“The initiative further confirms Renault’s environmental commitment and is also an innovative way of protecting new vehicles before they leave plants,” reads the company's website.