Ford Retooling SUV Plant into Solar-Based Production Facility
Posted in Electric Vehicles, Solar Power on August 12th, 2010 by News Desk –
Dearborn, Mich. – Ford Motor Co. announced on Thursday that it will retool its Michigan Assembly plant, which had been making SUVs, into a plant focused on the production of fuel-efficient small cars, including the new Focus and Focus Electric, which will going into production in 2011, as well as a new hybrid vehicle and a plug-in hybrid vehicle scheduled to launch in 2012.
As part of the retrofit, Ford (NYSE: F) will install a 500-kilowatt solar photovoltaic panel system at the plant, with support from Detroit Edison. The primary solar energy system will help power the production of cars. It will be the largest solar power array in Michigan, according to Ford, and will save an estimated $160,000 per year in energy costs.
The system will be integrated with a 750-kilowatt energy storage facility, using technology from Xtreme Power, that can store 2 million watt-hours of energy using batteries, about enough to power 100 average Michigan homes for a year.
The Ford plant will operate on a blend of renewable and conventional electricity. The solar power will go directly into the plant’s dedicated “microgrid” to help provide power to the plant. When the plant is inactive, the solar energy will go into the energy storage system for later use, providing power during periods of insufficient or inconsistent sunlight.
The facility’s energy storage system will be able to recharge from the grid during off-peak hours when energy is available at a lower cost, and will provide inexpensive power during peak operating hours when the cost per kilowatt-hour is higher.
Ford also will install ten electric vehicle-charging stations at the plant to demonstrate advanced battery charging technologies using renewable energy and other smart-grid advances. The charging stations will also be intended to demonstrate the possibility for using electrified vehicle batteries as stationary power storage devices after their useful life as vehicle power sources has past.
The entire project is being supported by a $3 million investment by Detroit Edison’s SolarCurrents program, a $2 million grant from the Michigan Public Service Commission in support of the state’s smart-grid initiative, and about $800,000 from Ford.
Ford efficient vehicles website
