Energy-Tuning for Honda plants

Honda Plant in India: Solar Panels on Rooftop

Do solar installations pay off for Honda in India?

YES.

With less energy costs and more security of supply.

In India Bosch experts have made four plants of the two-wheeler manufacturer Honda more energyefficient – with photovoltaic systems and a heating solution for a cleaning process.
The Indian two-wheeler industry has been growing for several years. It sold around 17.7 million vehicles in 2016, making it the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer.

Two-wheeler manufacturers in the country require a lot of energy and want to become less dependent on the public power grid due to the frequent power outages and higher costs. Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI), the second-biggest two-wheeler manufacturer in the country, shares this goal.

24,300 tons of CO₂ savings

per year - the switch to solar energy paid off for HMSI.

With this in mind, the company planned a 600 kW solar system four years ago. The idea was to install it on the roof of the plant in the city of Manesar in northern India. For the project execution, the company ultimately commissioned Bosch Energy and Building Solutions India, whose experts implemented the project within five months. After that, the scope of the partnership broadened when the plant management in Manesar decided last year to expand the solar system.

Based on the expertise that was demonstrated earlier, the Bosch team was also commissioned to construct additional photovoltaic systems in the HMSI plants in Tapukara in the northwest, Vithalapur in the west, and Narsapura in the south. Of these solar systems, 12 MW capacity is already generating clean power and 9 MW capacity is currently under execution.

Each plant has different requirements. This is why we carefully surveyed the conditions and designed the systems in a specific way that would allow them to deliver the best results on site.

Kannan D, Senior Design Engineer at Bosch Energy and Building Solutions India

Kannan D, Senior Design Engineer bei Bosch Energy and Building Solutions India — Kannan D, Senior Design Engineer

The customizations for each facility ranged from reverse power protection systems to routing power cables through specified areas to ensure safe and reliable operations. Because the plants operate around the clock, the solar systems had to be installed while operations were running.

Another customer need arose during the implementation in Vithalapur. At that plant, vehicle parts are cleaned during the manufacturing process by being submerged in a chemical bath at a temperature of 65 degrees Celsius. The Bosch team implemented a built-in heating and cooling solution in order to save energy during this process. “It consists of energy-efficient air source heat pumps with customized heat exchanger coils, and it halved the energy consumption of the cleaning process,” says Ashwini Kumar Mahato, Senior Solution Designer at Bosch Energy and Building Solutions India.

Summary

The Bosch solar installations at HMSI plants are among the largest rooftop solar plants in India. The total area covered measures around 280,500 square meters which is equivalent to 26 football fields. The switch to solar energy paid off for HMSI. The solar systems are estimated to allow HMSI plants to save the equivalent of five to 17 percent of the energy costs, depending on the plant. Sustainability also improved within the company. By implementing the solar systems, HMSI reduced its carbon footprint by around 24,300 metric tons of CO₂ per year.