Nissan installs solar panels

Nissan Motor Company has announced plans to install 606 solar panels at its Barcelona vehicle plant by the end of the summer.

Together the 606 solar panels at Barcelona will cover a surface of 3,000 square-metres and generate 308,000kWh of electricity per year, while reducing CO₂ emissions by 110 tons.

Of the total, 480 are photovoltaic panels which convert sunlight directly into electricity and have already started operations. The remaining 126 panels, which will be put in place by the end of the summer, are thermal panels which will be used for heating water for the vehicle paint process, among other industrial purposes.

The Barcelona plant is the second Nissan plant in Spain to install solar panels, making Nissan the first automotive company in Spain to widely introduce solar power at its factories. In February, Nissan announced it would install a total of 732 solar panels at its light commercial vehicle plant in Avila this summer resulting in savings of 267 tons of CO₂ emissions every year.

According to a statement, reducing CO₂ emissions from its products and day-to-day operations is a top priority for Nissan under the Nissan Green Program 2010, its midterm environmental plan announced last December. As part of that plan, Nissan has said it aims to reduce CO₂ emissions from its manufacturing plants by 7% compared with the level in 2005.

In addition to Spain, Nissan is also using renewable energy at its Sunderland vehicle plant in the UK, where it has erected six wind turbines. The six turbines generate 5% of the plant’s annual electricity, while cutting CO

emissions by 3,300 tons a year.