VALENCIA, Spain—Ford Motor Co.’s assembly plant here now gets a significant amount of its electricity from solar energy produced on site.

MUNICH—The BMW Group is sourcing aluminum produced using solar electricity.

ATLANTA—Porsche Cars North America Inc. (PCNA) has signed a contract with Cherry Street Energy LLC, the largest non-utility provider of solar energy in Georgia, to build and operate a solar power microgrid at the company’s headquarters and customer experience center here.

BUFFALO, WV—Toyota’s engine and transmission assembly plant here will soon be the site of the largest solar panel array in the state.

LANCASTER, CA—Construction has begun on a solar energy project at BYD’s Coach & Bus assembly plant here. When fully operational, the project is expected to save the factory more than $100,000 per year in electricity costs.

When it comes to jewelry, copper is definitely less valuable than gold or silver. In the world of assembly, however, copper is much more in demand. Its uses range from electrical conductors in wire, to solar-cell foundations, to sheet metal products for commercial and residential applications.

SUNDERLAND, UK—Nissan has installed a 4.75-megawatt solar farm at its assembly plant here. Together with other renewable energy sources, the farm will generate enough power to build more than 31,000 cars every year.

PLANO, TX—Toyota will use solar panels at its Texas headquarters, which is currently under construction, to get 25 percent of its power from the sun.

HAGERSTOWN, MD—Volvo Group has installed a 5,000-panel solar canopy in the parking lot of its power train assembly plant here. The canopy will produce 1.3 megawatts of electricity for the facility.