Wind Turbines Make Green Energy for Southfield Chevy Dealership

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WJBK) -- They're hard to miss in the skies over Southfield. Two 117-foot wind turbines recently went up at Serra Chevrolet.

The new dealership on Telegraph is using them to make green power, but as luck would have it, there wasn't much wind when we stopped by.

"It's not windy today, but they do spin," said Greg Brown. "The pitch of the blade and the whole structure actually turns based on the motion of the wind."

The dealership's general manager said each turbine produces 20 kilowatts, which is enough to light up three to five houses.

Once they're fully hooked up, they're expected to generate 10 percent of the dealership's power, but they're so new they haven't gotten the first bill yet to see how much they'll save.

Workers watched in amazement as the turbines were installed. They said it was surprisingly simple. It only took two men to do it, and they didn't even use a crane.

"It's new to us. The technology is fantastic, and the more we learn, the more we read about it, how excited we are to have it," Brown said.

The dealership got approval to install them as part of the permit process for construction. The turbines produce no greenhouse gasses or carbon dioxide, and they're not the only green touch at Serra Chevrolet. A solar canopy is also being used to power six Chevy Volts.

"During the day, on a sunny day, it'll grab the solar rays and it will produce energy for the Volts so that they can be charged and also store energy at the same time, and at nighttime, when we have the Volts plugged in, they'll charge all night long," Brown explained.

Of course, we didn't see the sun when we visited either, but Brown said you can't beat the free energy. He believes it's the wave of the future.

"That's the direction of our culture. That's the direction of Chevrolet," Brown told us.

Now that the momentum has started, he expects other dealerships to follow.