Toyota Plant in West Virginia Blooms With New Solar Power

The automotive facility, located in the Advantage Valley, unveils its SmartFlower solar setup.

By Kevin Litwin on October 18, 2023

John Sibold

The word “plant” has taken on a second meaning at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia (TMMWV) assembly plant.

The automotive facility in the Advantage Valley town of Buffalo in Putnam County has become more efficient with the “planting” of five SmartFlower solar arrays. The SmartFlower setups are helping to power employee service buildings that house a credit union, clinic, pharmacy, uniform store and footwear store.

TMMWV officials say each SmartFlower acts much like a sunflower, blooming and opening at sunrise and following the sun’s path during the day to capture as many rays as possible. The eye-pleasing apparatuses are highly visible to the public and even look like flowers, folding up at sunset. In addition, each SmartFlower has self-cleaning petals lined with tiny brushes that remove dirt when they open and close.

“This is one more way Toyota West Virginia is embracing alternative energy and reducing our ecological footprint,” TMMWV President David Rosier said in a release. “Our environmental team is always working to make our plant more efficient.”

Besides the SmartFlower technology at employee service buildings, the Toyota plant in West Virginia has a large solar array behind the assembly plant that reduces the manufacturing facility’s carbon dioxide emissions by 4 million pounds per year. TMMWV also has an on-site nature trail that features a forest habitat, wetlands habitat, pollinator garden, bird houses and bat houses.

Opened in 1996, the Toyota plant in West Virginia manufactures four-cylinder, 2.4 Turbo and 2.5-liter engines along with transmissions and hybrid transaxles. The facility has about 2,000 employees, and there have been 11 expansions during the plant’s 27-year history.