Lordstown now GM plant with biggest solar installation in West

LORDSTOWN

General Motors Lordstown has yet another title from the company.

In addition to being home to the Chevrolet Cruze, GM’s best-selling car, the largest GM plant in the U.S. and the most productive in North America, Lordstown also will be the plant with the largest solar installation project in the Western Hemisphere, GM announced Tuesday.

“We are honored and proud to be named home of GM’s largest solar installation to date on the Western Hemisphere,” said Steve Notar

Donato, Lordstown plant manager. “This investment is another sign of GM’s confidence in and support of the future of Lordstown and the entire Mahoning Valley.”

The new, 2.2-megawatt ground-mounted solar array will include more than 8,500 solar panels — enough to power 1.5 percent of the plant. It will be visible to travelers on the Ohio Turnpike and stand as a “visual cue” of GM’s solar power use, officials said.

“GM has made a commitment in terms of increasing our use of renewable energy by 2020,” said Sharon Basel, communications manager of GM Energy, Environment and Sustainability. Solar “reduces the impact on the environment and provides a reduction in carbon emissions and lessens the impact on the climate change.”

It also is more cost effective in comparison to other energy sources, she said.

Read more about the effort in Wednesday's Vindicator or onVvindy.com.