Conshohocken, PA — IKEA plans to install solar energy panels on 10 additional United States locations — its entire presence in the southern U.S.
Conshohocken, PA — IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retailer, plans to install solar energy panels on 10 additional United States locations — its entire presence in the southern U.S. Pending governmental permits, installation can begin this winter, with completion expected in summer 2012. 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).
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, Charlotte, and Woodbridge, Va.); and the IKEA distribution center in Savannah, Ga.
IKEA already has 12 U.S. solar energy systems operational with 11 more underway. Adding solar to 10 more locations increases the company’s solar presence to 75% 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, one of the world’s 10 largest independent PV project developers and system integrators. Both contracted companies already are implementing other solar PV programs for IKEA too.
IKEA was founded in 1943 in Sweden. There are currently more than 330 IKEA stores in 40 countries, including 38 in the U.S. For more information, go to IKEA-USA.com.