From Walmart to Ikea, a report finds that the rooftops of big-box stores offer enough solar potential to power the equivalent of 8 million American homes.
of retailers with the most on-site solar power in the United States. The company says about a quarter of its more than 1,900 stores nationwide have solar on-site, with the systems providing from 15 percent to 40 percent of a property’s energy needs.ranks third among superstores in rooftop solar potential. The home-improvement retailer said more thanWalmart spokesperson Mariel Messier declined to provide the number of on-site solar installations at the retail chain’s 4,742 stores.
Sign up for the latest news about climate change, energy and the environment, delivered every Thursday Fenton said that parking lots can offer even more solar potential, with panels not only providing electricity to the store but shade to cars and perhaps even power for electric vehicle chargers. Wilson’s group didn’t include parking lots in its calculations, but the report touches on the possibility.