(June 22, 2018) TORRANCE, Calif. — Honda has flipped the switch on a new solar energy system at the American Honda Motor Co. campus in Torrance, Calif., one of the largest solar arrays on a commercial building in Southern California, and at 2.0 megawatts direct current, one of Honda's largest on-site renewable energy installations anywhere in the world.

The new solar array expands Honda's ongoing commitment to reduce its environmental footprint by developing and implementing renewable energy projects throughout its operations.

Honda's new solar array features more than 6,000 panels and is expected to generate approximately 3,000 megawatt hours (MWh) annually. It will offset roughly 30 percent of the purchased electricity for the entire American Honda Torrance campus. Solar energy also will provide 100 percent of the electric vehicle charging energy in the parking lot to the south of the solar rooftop system.

A Honda-developed cloud-based energy management system can control electric vehicle charging to match solar generation at the 60 EV charging stations to maximize the amount of solar energy used to charge the vehicles.

The solar array on American Honda's Torrance campus is connected in parallel to three large lithium ion batteries that improve the integration of renewable energy with the electric grid, smoothing out the abrupt changes in power generation that occur, for example, when a cloud covers the sun. The batteries — a 500 kilowatt (kW) / 1,000 kilowatt hour (kWh) and two 100kW / 200kWh batteries — also even out the buildings' power usage and reduce demand charges, resulting in significant utility cost savings.

"Installing the solar and battery system on Honda's Torrance campus is a win-win-win solution that will help Honda reach its renewable energy goals, save money and reduce CO2 emissions," said Ryan Harty, manager of Connected and Environmental Business Development and Engineering at American Honda. "Charging electric vehicles with sunshine is also very satisfying for our associates. The transition to renewable energy and electric transportation go hand-in-hand."