IKEA, a home furnishings retailer, announced plans to double the current size of the rooftop solar array on its Maryland distribution center. The project will begin in 2014 and is slated to be completed by April of that same year.
The 467,618-square-foot solar addition will consist of a 2.2-MW system, built with 7,337 modules. It will produce 2,695,355 kWh of electricity annually for the facility. Including the existing system, this distribution center’s total 4.9-MW solar installation of 25,913 panels soon will generate 6,092,533 kWh of clean electricity yearly.
Last spring, IKEA achieved its goal of completing solar installations atop nearly 90% of its U.S. buildings (39 out of 44 locations), with a generation goal of 38-MW. IKEA owns and operates each of its solar photovoltaic (PV) energy systems – as opposed to a solar lease or PPA (power purchase agreement) – and globally has allocated $1.8 billion to invest in renewable energy through 2015.
Consistent with IKEA's goal of being energy independent by 2020, the company has installed more than 300,000 solar panels on buildings across the world and operates approximately 137 wind turbines in Europe.
