Solar Panels to be Installed at Two Flint General Motors' Plants

(MLive.com)

GENESEE COUNTY, MI – Consumers Energy will build three acres of solar arrays on two Flint-area General Motors plants this summer as part of both companies' efforts to boost renewable energy.

Several 150-kilowatt ground-mount solar arrays will be installed at the Flint Processing Center in Swartz Creek and Flint Engine Operations in Flint later this summer, generating an estimated 400,000 kilowatt hours of power.

The power generated by the solar arrays are not being built to power only the plants, but to add renewable energy to the entire power grid.

"The power being generated is not just for GM's benefit, but for the entire power grid as a whole," said Tom Wickham, a General Motors' Flint Manufacturing Communications representative.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, an independent entity of the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. homes used an average of 10,837 kilowatt hours a year in 2012.

The estimated amount to be generated by the new panels would be enough to power more than 30 homes.

Neither Consumers Energy nor General Motors has released the official start date of the installation, but both projects are expected to be completed by fall.

Source: http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2014/07/solar_panels_to_be_installed_a.html