Manufacturing facilities are hubs of activity. They use enormous amounts of energy in a wide variety of processes, all of which are scaled up for maximum intensity. The average factory in the United States consumes 95.1 kilowatt-hours of electricity per square foot annually, which is at least 10 times the amount of. Most manufacturing facilities are perfectly designed to meet the space requirements of solar. It's almost as if architects and site planners were anticipating the eventual installation of solar panels. Factories are generally constructed with square or rectangular roofs. This is. Some of the top manufacturers in the country have committed to solar energy. Toyota, L'Oréal, Johnson & Johnson, Nestle Purina, Anheuser. Whatever the environmental benefits, manufacturers aren't going to convert to solar energy unless it makes good economic sense. Lending institutions do offer reasonable financing.