Seat completes industry's largest solar panel installation

SEAT HAS completed construction of the largest solar panel installation in the automotive industry.

The huge 'Seat al Sol' array at the firm’s Martorell plant outside Barcelona is the size of 40 football pitches and generates 15 million kilowatt hours of power per year courtesy of the reliable Spanish sunshine.

The electricity produced is enough to account for a quarter of the amount needed to build a year’s allocation of Leons, reducing the factory’s energy bills significantly and saving 7,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

Some of the panels also serve as carports, under which Seat can store finished cars to keep them out of the elements.

The installation has eaten up a €35 million investment since Seat commissioned it in 2010.

The company has won several high-profile accolades for its ongoing efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. Among its other initiatives are high-volume direct train lines between its production facilities and the port at Barcelona, which save an estimated 50,000 road truck trips per year.

By Press Association reporter