This summer, something powerful took shape in a field southwest of Huntington: a 1.168-megawatt solar array that now provides power to a massive manufacturing plant on Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems’ local campus, decreasing its reliance on the local power grid and reducing the company’s carbon footprint in pursuit of sustainability. Bendix celebrated the installation coming on-line Wednesday with a showcase look at the completed project.

“Watching this come together over the past few months has been amazing, and it’s a genuine thrill to look out there next to the parking lot and see that what was once a vision of stepping toward a greener future is now a reality,” said Bill Schubert, Bendix corporate manager, environmental and sustainability. “Those solar panels soaking up the Indiana sunshine – even on cloudy days – will satisfy about 30% of Huntington Plant 1’s energy requirements and should decrease the campus’ carbon footprint by nearly 19% – about the equivalent of burning through more than 122,000 gallons of gasoline.”

Bendix, the North American leader in the design, development, and manufacture of active safety, air management, and braking solutions for commercial vehicles, is a subsidiary of Munich, Germany-based Knorr-Bremse. The solar project is a key element of the company’s overall climate strategy, and over the past decade, Bendix has pursued and adopted the environmental strategies of its parent company, the global market leader for braking systems and a leading supplier of other rail and commercial vehicle systems.

Indianapolis-based PSG Energy Group managed construction of the array, which is now the largest on-site solar installation in Huntington County. At full capacity, the solar project produces 1.5 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, delivering an estimated $140,000 in annual electric utility savings.

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