Installing Solar Panels: A Step Toward Decarbonization

At Arpe, we believe it’s possible to manufacture locally and sustainably. But there’s something you don’t usually see in the final product (and that makes a huge difference): the energy we use to make it.

When we opened our current factory in Arenys de Munt over 20 years ago, we already looked into switching to renewable energy and installing solar panels. The first one, we did it quite quickly. And the second? We made it happen in 2021!

Three years ago, we installed a rooftop solar power system, and today, we’re proud to say that 35% of our total electricity consumption comes from solar energy we produce ourselves. The rest, we get it exclusively from renewable sources with official guarantees of origin.

In other words, 100% of the energy we use at Arpe is renewable. This helps us save approximately 15.9 tonnes
of CO₂ eq. per year (that’s roughly the same as driving more than 70,000km in a standard car 🚗☁️ !)

Moving Closer to Energy Independence

In 2025, we’ve taken things further. We installed our first energy storage batteries, allowing us to save the solar energy we generate and increase our overall self-sufficiency. We also began real-time monitoring of our electricity use through a digital energy control panel.

For example, just in July 2025:

We produced 1.32 MWh of solar energy, 82% of which was used directly in-house.
We exported the surplus (17.66%) back to the grid.
We covered 35% of our total energy needs with our own solar power, with the rest still coming from certified renewable sources.

Our Carbon Footprint: Decarbonizing What We Control

Thanks to a rigorous carbon footprint calculation based on the ISO 14064:2018 standard, we know that emissions from our direct operations and electricity use account for just 0.39% of our total emissions. In other words, we’ve nearly eliminated our operational emissions.

And that’s a huge step! In the textile industry, most of the environmental impact doesn’t come from energy, but from raw materials and the use of the product. So, while we work to improve our supply chain, we also focus on the part we can control directly.

Using recycled materials or eco-designing our products are visible decisions. But choosing to power our factory with clean, local, renewable energy is just as impactful, even if it happens behind the scenes.

🔋☀️🏭