FedEx’s New Solar System Is Enough To Power 370 homes

FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp, broke ground on its first – and largest – international solar energy facility on Monday. The facility near the Cologne, Germany airport will house over 16,000 square meters of solar panels.

The new solar panel installation is slated for completion by 2010; a 1.4-megawatt (MW) solar power system that will generate 1.3 GWhs of electricity/year. That is equivalent to the annual consumption of 370 homes!

The hub which is located in Cologne, Germany will about double FedEx’s on-site solar energy production.

Back in 2005, FedEx’s Oakland solar hub was California’s biggest rooftop solar system installation; the panels provide 20% of the facilities electrical needs. In its first three years online it offset more than 1,000 tons of CO2 emissions! FedEx also has solar facilities in Whittier and Fontana, California – together all three facilities offset 2.9 M pounds of C02 emissions every year.

In Geneva, Switzerland, a FedEx station uses a geothermal system to provide heating in the winter and cooling in the summer. Looks like FedEx is trying to clean up its environmental record, starting with energy.

Image source: wwfcanada on Flickr