A spokesperson for Honda has told a cautiously questioning just-auto that there is indeed truth in reports that solar energy is being harnessed for the production lines at a new Dongfeng Honda plant.
According to information provided by the Japanese manufacturer, a solar power generation system has been in operation since February 2011 at the facility of Dongfeng Honda Automobile Co., Ltd., (Dongfeng Honda, DHEC). The firm is honest enough to admit that the system “was installed to enhance its [DHEC] image as a model environmental company”.
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It does seem, however, that this is not mere green-wash. The solar system was manufactured by Honda Soltec and installed by DHEC. It generates a claimed 101,076 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. DHEC says the stored energy is re-used “in the general administration building and part of the production area”.
The factory’s solar panels consist of thin films made from a copper-iridium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) compound. Honda Soltec says the generation layer is only one fortieth the thickness of a human hair and one-eightieth that of a silicon-based solar cell. The panels are said to require half as much energy to produce compared to silicon-based cells.
Earlier this week, Xinhua, the news agency controlled by China’s Communist Party, reported that Dongfeng Honda’s second plant at Wuhan in Hubei province had become the world’s first vehicle plant to build cars using solar energy. Wuhan 2 was formally opened in July 2012 and has an initial capacity of 100,000 cars per annum.
