Kion North America completes solar array at South Carolina HQ

Industrial truck manufacturer and supply chain services provider Kion North America Corp. said today it had completed construction of a solar energy system that will generate enough electricity to meet nearly all of its South Carolina manufacturing facility's demand.

Installed by Charleston, S.C.-based Alder Energy Systems LLC, the 1.0-megawatt system will offset around 80 percent of the annual energy consumption of all operations at the facility, according to the Summerville, S.C.-based company, which is a unit of German material handling giant Kion Group AG.

Powered by 3,643 solar panels installed on the facility's roof and grounds, the installation will offset the equivalent of 2.08 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions and generate enough energy to power 133 homes, the firms said.

The sustainable system reflects material handling companies' growing interest in electric forklift trucks and other solutions powered by renewable resources, Daniel Schlegel, vice president of operations at Kion North America, said in a statement.

This solar energy system is the first investment by Kion Group in this type of renewable energy, the company said.