Fiesta Ford in Indio goes green, installs thousands of solar panels

A leader in alternative energy, automaker Ford is continuing to pave the way.

Fiesta Ford, the car dealership at the I-10 Auto Mall in Indio, is turning to one of the biggest natural sources of energy we have in the desert – the sun. Taking advantage of some open and unused space across the street from the dealership, they built several solar carports.

“It is their continuing commitment to reach out and grab sustainability for their community and long term success here at the dealership,” said Gary LaSalle, President of LaSalle Solar Systems.

Fiesta Ford contracted the Coachella Valley based company to install more than 2,000 solar panels, which will generate enough electricity to cover 90% of the dealership’s electrical load.

“Basically a system of this size could generate enough to power up roughly 100 single family homes per year,” LaSalle said.

The Indio dealership’s efforts alone will also help reduce more than a million pounds of greenhouse gases each year. But, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association, if *all* car dealerships in the U.S. turned to clean energy and reduced consumption by just 10%, it would eliminate more than 1 million tons of greenhouse gases every year.

“Corporate Ford and Ford brand is definitely moving forward, that’s their main focus is to do solar energy and minimize the amount of carbon dioxide,” said General Sales Manager at Fiesta Ford, Carlos Aceves.

The Ford dealership in Cathedral City also installed its own solar carports.

“I think its just a natural step for most of the dealerships, and basically these two dealerships out here in the valley to make the same move and kind of follow their lead,” Aceves said.

Installation of the solar panels at the dealership in Indio is expected to be completed in late November.