Mitsubishi Motors’ UK head office has now become a solar-fuelled power plant thanks to the successful installation of a 50kWp solar array on its roof in Cirencester, Gloucestershire.
The 196 Mitsubishi solar modules are expected to generate in excess of 40,000kWh of carbon-free electricity a year, saving over 17 tonnes from entering the atmosphere.
Lance Bradley, Managing Director of Mitsubishi Motors in the UK, spoke of the company’s desire to invest in such an environmentally conscious energy solution: “The decision to install Solar PV was a straight forward one. As well as offering good strong, sound business benefits, this move complements our growing reputation of leading the way in environmental technologies. Many of our vehicles now come with Auto Stop & Go technology; we were the first to the global market with a full production pure-electric vehicle, the i-MiEV; and are very proud to be launching one of the world’s first plug-in hybrids in 2013.
“Whilst we know that the Government feed-in tariff is set to be reduced in August, the increasing efficiency of panels, falling costs of the hardware and increasing energy costs are likely to still make the case to other businesses compelling, and we hope they will follow our lead.”
Gloucestershire-based solar installer, Glevum Energy, was selected to complete the installation on the Japanese motor giant’s UK headquarters. Gary Jones, Chairman of Glevum, spoke of his pleasure to help Mitsubishi achieve its environmental ambitions: “We are very proud of our close working relationship with Mitsubishi Motors in the UK and so were delighted when we were chosen to install this solar PV system.”
The array is hooked up to a comprehensive monitoring system that will allow the company to evaluate the performance of the array and monitor its output. What’s more, Mitsubishi Motors is mounting a real-time display in its reception area to help visitors understand the output of the solar array.
