Ohio Honda Dealership now powered by on-site Solar Panels

Feb. 21, 2023
The 248 solar panels in place will directly power the facility with 120 kW capacity. Parkway Honda hopes to save about $378,000 in electricity costs over a 20-year period.

If you want to hear about a recent good deal on solar power, a Honda auto retailer in Ohio offers a shining example.

Freedom Solar Power installed a new rooftop PV array at Parkway Auto Group’s dealership in Dover, Ohio, this winter. The 248 solar panels in place will directly power the facility with 120 kW at capacity. 

“We couldn’t be happier with our decision,” said Parkway Honda’s Partner, Mark C. Mears. “We are one of the first dealerships in the county to go solar and we are proud to be leading the way within Dover and Tuscarawas County. By diminishing our carbon footprint, we are achieving advantages never seen before rather than just reducing our electricity bill.”

Parkway Honda hopes to save about $378,000 in electricity costs over a 20-year period. The owners also have on-site backup power generators installed. 

The solar installation was completed this month. Parkway Honda hopes to cut its CO2 emissions by nearly 92 metric tons annually by utilizing the carbon-free energy.

Parkway Honda is one of a handful of auto dealerships in the state to welcome on-site solar power. Mears and the dealer group chose Freedom Solar as contractor after a referral from Honda Green Dealer, an initiative of the automaker to aid independently owned dealerships in reducing their carbon footprints.

“We are proud to partner with them in making their business more energy-efficient and helping them get one step closer to their sustainable goals,” Freedom Solar CEO Bret Biggart said.

The Mears family connection to the Parkway Honda dealership dates back to the 1950s. The Dover-based Parkway Auto Superstore was established a decade ago.

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(Rod Walton, senior editor for EnergyTech, is a 15-year veteran of covering the energy industry both as a newspaper and trade journalist. He can be reached at [email protected]).

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About the Author

Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor | Senior Editor

For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

Rod Walton has spent 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World. 

EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023

Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

Rendering of SMR nuclear plant image credit GE Hitachi Nuclear
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Image credit Sage will examine the potential for geothermal baseload power generation to provide clean and resilient energy at the military base. The effort will consider geothermal technologies as well as the integration of hybrid energy solutions to generate cost-effective, 24/7 energy resilience.
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Image credit Alex Hui, U.S. Army Reserve Parks Reserves Forces Training Command
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