Penske Truck Leasing is adding solar power to some of its truck leasing, rental, and maintenance locations in the U.S.

The company’s new facility in Channahon, Illinois, now fully operational, is predominantly powered by an onsite rooftop photovoltaic solar system, expected to generate roughly 80% of the building’s energy needs at 200 KW capacity. Any remaining required energy will be supplied by the local utility provider. 

This facility is the first in a solar-powered initiative seeking to boost efficiency, minimize energy costs, and reduce emissions.

A Grand Rapids, Michigan, location will be active in the coming months, and Penske’s Linden, New Jersey, location is expected to go online in 2025. 

Like the Channahon location, these facilities are also new state-of-the-art locations, part of the company’s LEED building program. 

Penske Also is Retrofitting Facilities with Solar Panels

Under a power purchase agreement with Sunrock Distributed Generation, seven additional Penske facilities in California are expected to be retrofitted with new solar power systems in the next year. These are expected to yield roughly 600 KW of renewable energy across all locations. These facilities are located in Fresno, Hayward, La Mirada, National City, Riverside, San Diego and San Leandro. 

Penske is collaborating with San Francisco-based ForeFront Power as its lead project consultant on this solar initiative.

On average, four solar panel-powered Penske Truck Leasing facilities will generate an estimated 1-million-kilowatt hours (kWh) of renewable energy annually. That will result in an emissions avoidance of 442 metric tons (MT) CO2e, which is equal to powering nearly 90 homes for one year.

Penske Truck Leasing is a Penske Transportation Solutions company headquartered in Reading, Pennsylvania. It serves customers from nearly 1,000 maintenance facilities and more than 2,500 truck rental locations across North America.