Chevy Volt Plant to Get Solar Power

General Motors, trying to keep the green image of its Chevy Volt untarnished, said today that it will start installing a large solar panel array near the assembly plant that builds the plug-in hybrid; the plant will also soon start making the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu.

The Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant will get some 6 acres’ worth of photovoltaic panels that will face true south to maximize solar output. The $3 million project is being performed in conjunction with the DTE Energy utility company. Overall, the solar array will be able to generate enough electricity to fully charge 150 Volts every day.

Along with the lighting upgrades and other green measures at the plant, about $3 million in energy costs will be saved every year, GM says.

Comments

Wouldn't having solar panels on the Chevy Volt itself be more useful to the owners of the vehicle? You know, the ones that actually shell out hard earned money for it?

Just the solar panel facing south is not good enough. Make sure it is those rotating ones that faces the sunlight all the time to maximize energy absorption. Lucent corporate office near me has those. Also solar panel on roof of Chevy Volt please? At least Nissan Leaf has them to power accessories.

For the most part, putting solars panels on EVs and PHEVs is actually a losing proposition. The weight they add causes more energy to be used than they actually generate.
For now, solar panels are best used for grid power.

Solar panels on the vehicle would be a good idea. Toyota tried that to charge the Prius batteries, and found that it caused cellphone interference, so they were forced to use those big solar panels on top of some Prius to only run a fan to vent the car while it is parked. Darn shame if you ask me - too bad they can't find a way to somehow insulate that electrical interference.

This could be a great development on vehicles if this study would turn out into a successful one. It would be a big less to the fuels that vehicles that do use. Many are looking forward for the success of the project.

Hey there Colin. Nice post here. It is happy to know that many big companies are fully aware with the situation of the environment that the implementation of green technology is being considered. The problem is finding a wide space to assemble these solar panels.

It's really quite simple folks... If you live in CA, AZ, TX, FL or anywhere in between... get yourself some Solar Panels, place them on your Roof... get a Tax write-off, buy a Volt... plug in, and pay around $10-$20 a month for you're Electric Bill... it's what I'm doing and it's saving me THOUSANDS of Dollars. ;-)

What was I paying before? $400 Dollars a month on Gas along with a neat $200 a month Electric Bill.

Let's do the Math...

$20.00 > $600.00

Sounds pretty good to me!! lol

Doesnt the Fiskar Karma use solar panels? I think it will be good as long as it doesnt drive the price of this thing up further. I really wish the Volt was around $30k, it would be an easy choice then!

With so many innovations now, even cars are now can be run with the use of solar energy.