Barnes Crossing Auto Group Goes Green At Several Dealerships

TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – A North Mississippi car dealer is going green at several of its businesses and a locally owned company is helping make it happen.

Even on an overcast day , some of the electricity being used inside the Barnes Crossing Hyundai dealership is coming from off the grid.

Inside the showroom, salespeople are making deals, managers are crunching numbers and it is all partially powered by green energy.

“I’ve seen all these large companies like Amazon, GM, Ford, all trying to reduce carbon footprint, we decided to jump on board and reduce our carbon footprint,” said Barnes Crossing Auto Group Owner Joe Marshall.

One thousand solar panels have been installed at Barnes Crossing Hyundai, Volkswagen and Kia dealerships.

More than fifty percent of the power required at each dealership will be generated by solar power.

Barnes Crossing Auto Group Owner Joe Marshall is making the decision to go green, for several reasons. There are tax credits and an accelerated depreciation corporate deduction, and the project should pay for itself in about six years. Electric bills will also be reduced by up to sixty percent, annually.

“It’s a way to lift up our community, lift up our society, and if you have a question, give us a call, we’d love to share numbers we’re going to have in the next five to six months,” Marshall said.

The panels were installed by Carbon Recall of Tupelo. This installation was the largest commercial system so far, for the company. Co-owner Nathan Lewis says solar energy has many benefits and is not impacted by changes in the price of electricity.

“If you have a large spike in the price of electricity, you don’t feel that as much if you have solar panels, it’s kind of like having longer miles per gallon car, you don’t pay as much in gas,”  Lewis said.

Marshall is hopeful other business owners will consider solar power, not only as a sound business decision but also as a way to help the community.

During the day, solar power helps run businesses and homes, and at night, they go back on the electric grid.