PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH
Cooke Howlison is the first dealership in Dunedin using solar energy to manage electricity consumption.
Mr Downing said the dealership embarked on the project with Aotea Electric Dunedin and Oakwood Properties and fitting of 136 solar panels had already generated electricity savings of more than 25%.
The solar energy capture was used in store operations; during the day, direct sunlight was converted into electricity to support its network requirements on demand.
Cooke Howlison would continue to study other options to reduce resource consumption in its operations.
Rain water harvesting was the next project under review to explore and test for vehicle washing.
