by Shane Henson — December 16, 2011—IKEA, long recognized as an innovative and leading home furnishings retailer, is making a name for itself as an innovator and leader in sustainability as well. The company recently announced plans to install solar energy panels on 10 additional locations in the United States. Collectively, the nine stores and one distribution center will total 10.7 Megawatts (MW) of solar generating capacity, nearly 45,360 panels, and a projected annual electricity output of 15,248,334 kilowatt hours (kWh).
According to IKEA officials, this investment reinforces the company’s long-term commitment to sustainability and confidence in photovoltaic (PV) technology. IKEA will own and operate each of its solar PV energy systems atop its buildings—as opposed to a solar lease or PPA (power purchase agreement)—now including its three Texas stores (Frisco, Houston and Round Rock), three Florida stores (Orlando, Sunrise and Tampa), three other stores (Atlanta, GA; Charlotte, NC; and Woodbridge, VA), and the IKEA Distribution Center in Savannah, Georgia.
IKEA already has 12 U.S. solar energy systems operational, with 11 more underway. Adding solar to ten more locations increases the company’s solar presence to 75 percent of its U.S. locations and a total solar generating capacity of approximately 26.8 MW.
For the six Florida and Texas stores, IKEA contracted with REC Solar, one of the largest U.S. solar electric providers, with more than 7,000 systems built nationwide. For the four other locations, IKEA contracted with Gehrlicher Solar America Corp., part of Gehrlicher AG, reportedly one of the world’s ten largest independent PV project developers and system integrators. Both contracted companies already are implementing other solar PV programs for IKEA, too.
