Sam Krahn 
General Motors is getting serious about sustainability in their vehicles and factories. The Detroit-based automaker has already committed to a massive onslaught of electric vehicles, and its factories are on track to use 100% renewable energy from 2030 onward. By 2040, GM says that the entire company will be carbon neutral. And this mentality is now extending to one of the most unlikely GM vehicles: the Corvette. We already know Chevrolet will put out a hybrid E-Ray C8 Corvette, but it will now go further than that. The Corvette’s Bowling Green Assembly plant is getting a massive boost in solar power, thanks to an investment from the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Green Invest program.
The project is actually a collaboration between Tennessee Valley Authority, General Motors and Facebook. The new Logan County solar farm is just the latest Tennessee Valley Authority solar investment to the region, as they have attracted nearly $2.7 billion in solar investment, and provide over 2,100 megawatts of power to the area. This new facility will provide Facebook’s regional data operations center with 145 megawatts of power, while the C8 Corvette factory is getting 28 megawatts. The project should come together to power the factory by 2023, and will be located only 30 miles from the Bowling Green Assembly Plant.
To increase the resilience and cloudy day power capacity of the C8 Corvette factory, Facebook’s investment saw an addition of 120 megawatts of battery storage capability. Eventually, solar plants like these could power many of GM’s factories. In addition to the positive environmental impact, the project will employ over 450 workers, with most of them being local.
This really does look like a win for everyone involved. Solar power is a clean energy source that will lower carbon emissions of companies and residents that use it, it will employ several hundred workers, and thus provide economic stability and benefits to the area. And while the majority of C8 Chevrolet Corvette customers will never think about it, their fire breathing V8 sports car is that much more environmentally friendly.
