French oil company Total S.A. is launching a program to equip 5,000 of its service stations worldwide with solar panels within five years, including 800 in France. The total solar capacity to be installed is about 200 MW, equivalent to the amount of electricity used to power a city of 200,000 people. The project represents an investment of around USD300 million.

“The project is fully aligned with Total’s ambition of becoming the responsible energy major and its commitment to developing solar power. It will reduce our carbon emissions by 100,000 tonnes per year and cut our electricity bill by USD40 million per year,” said Philippe Sauquet, president of Gas, Renewables & Power at Total. “The panels will be supplied by our affiliate SunPower, which offers the world’s most efficient solar technology. This project demonstrates Total’s confidence in SunPower, especially its ability to bring our customers competitive, clean energy.”

An affiliate of Total, SunPower is a global leader in photovoltaic solar energy. Based in San Jose, Calif., U.S.A., SunPower develops, manufactures and operates the world’s highest performing solar systems for homeowners and businesses.