Green Energy Used To Build Bentleys

Bentley may not yet have a hybrid or a PHEV in its luxurious lineup, but it is now building its cars with lots of green, rooftop-sourced, energy.
Bentley Motors today welcomed Greg Barker, UK’s Energy and Climate Change Minister, to its headquarters in Pyms Lane, Crewe, to find out more about the recent installation of over 20,000 solar panels on its factory roof.
The Bentley factory is where the brand’s three main model lines – Continental, Flying Spur and Mulsanne – are manufactured.
The solar panel installation project, located on the top of Bentley’s Crewe installations, the biggest of its kind in the UK.
“The solar panels have generated over 2,200,000 kilowatt-hour’s of energy since its installation in March, having a hugely positive impact on the efficiency and sustainability of our manufacturing operations,” said Michael Straughan, Bentley’s Member of the Board for Manufacturing. “We’re very proud of the project and so are delighted to welcome Greg Barker to the factory and share the information behind that success.”

The solar panels are owned and operated by Lightsource Renewable Energy Limited and engineered, constructed and maintained by Solarcentury. They are set over 3.45 hectares of roof space and have a capacity of 5 megawatt. The installation generates enough energy to power over 1,200 UK households and is three times more powerful than the second largest roof mounted system in the UK.
Bentley said it is anticipated that at peak generation times, the system will produce up to 40 percent of Bentley’s energy requirements and reduce CO2 usage by over 2,500 tones per year.
“Solar is a genuinely exciting energy of the future and the Coalition Government is committed to placing solar at the heart of the UK’s energy mix.” said Greg Barker, Energy and Climate Change Minister. “Bentley’s solar project here in Crewe is a fantastic example of how solar can work in practice. It’s generating a huge amount of energy, cutting costs and reducing carbon.”