More than 18,000 solar panels will be installed on the Balta Group's Belgium-based factory roof, in a project the flooring maker calls the region's largest. The company, which manufactures broadloom carpets, rugs and laminate flooring, is devoting 88,000 square meters of its roof area to the project.

The company noted it has a total roof area of 610,000 square meters when taking into account all the Balta branches in Belgium. "So there is still plenty of potential for additional projects in the future," said Jules Noten, CEO of the Balta Group.

The solar panels, with a total panel surface of more than 30,000 square meters, are being installed by Enfinity of Waregem, Belgium. The installation will have a capacity 4.2 megawatt peak, which breaks down to an average power ouput of 3.6 million kilowatt hours per year. "This is equivalent to the power consumption of 1,200 families," noted Mike Tope, Balta Group energy manager.

The company added that any surplus energy can flow back to the public grid, drastically reducing CO2 emissions over a 20-year period by 34.6 million kilograms. "As a market leader we take responsibility to reduce our ecological footprint,” said Geert Vanden Bossche, Balta’s marketing director.