In what will be by far the biggest collective rooftop solar power system when completed, Renault has partnered with Gestamp Solar to install 60MW of PV panels across multiple buildings at several plants owned by the French automaker. The collective deployments will eventually cover a total area of 450,000 m2 and produce electricity equivalent to the power consumption of a town of 15,000.

Rooftop PV systems will be installed on the delivery and shipping centers at the Douai, Maubeuge, Flins, Batilly and Sandouville sites, along with parking canopy arrays on the staff parking lots at Maubeuge and Cléon.

The start date for installation is later this month, with completion scheduled for February 2012.

The project is part of "Renault 2016—Drive The Change," the company's strategic plan to reduce its carbon footprint by 10% by 2013 and by a further 10% between 2013 and 2016. The solar project will shrink its CO2 emissions by 30,000 tonnes a year.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.