A new report shows the biggest companies in the United States are installing solar at an ever-increasing rate. This is huge news for the industry because, as more well-known businesses install solar, consumers are sure to follow.
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the Vote Solar Initiative (Vote Solar) today released the annual Solar Means Business report, identifying major commercial solar projects and ranking America’s top corporate solar users.
The report found that Walmart remains America’s commercial solar leader with 89 megawatts (MW) at 215 locations. The Top 25 companies, ranked by installed capacity, are Walmart, Costco, Kohl’s, Apple, IKEA, Macy’s, Johnson & Johnson, McGraw Hill, Staples, Campbell’s Soup, U.S. Foods, Bed Bath & Beyond, Kaiser Permanente, Volkswagen, Walgreens, Target, Safeway, FedEx, Intel, L’OREAL, General Motors, Toys “R” Us, White Rose Foods, Toyota, and Dow Jones & Company.
Combined, these Top 25 companies have deployed 400 megawatts of solar capacity, a 33 percent increase from one year ago.
Solar Means Business also ranks the Top 25 companies by number of solar energy systems, the Top 5 companies in the food services, health and beauty and automobile sectors and the Top 10 retail companies.
Like these companies, America Supports Solar. From coast to coast, solar is creating jobs, saving money and decreasing our reliance on outside energy sources. In total, the companies analyzed for this report have deployed systems in 30 states and Puerto Rico.
Solar growth among these leading businesses reflects the growth in the U.S. commercial solar sector as a whole. As of Q2 2013, the cumulative commercial solar deployment totaled 3,380 MW and was located at more than 32,800 facilities throughout the country, representing an increase of over 40 percent from last year.
For the full report, got the www.seia.org.
You left out Google that already has way more than all those businesses combined. Why wouldn’t you include them? It seems sort of odd, really with 13 projects going now in the USA. It is the largest solar business user in the USA. So what gives, dudes?
This report implies that large corporations can influence consumers to make solar investments in their homes. It would be useful to know how the 400 MW of corporate installations are distributed among the categories of rooftop, parking lot, or ground-mounted. To the extent that they are not ground-mounted, but instead take advantage of footprints on rooftops or conventional parking lot shading structures, the visible impact on consumers is negligible. For these deployments, consumer influence would need to come from different
sources such as advertising, public relations campaigns, word of mouth, etc.
But if visible impact is a goal for corporate users to enhance their ‘sustainability’ stature, an elevated parking lot shading structure offers an attractive solution.
The Power Parasol designed by Strategic Solar Energy LLC is such a solution. SSE is an Arizona based company focused on creating innovative renewable energy technology solutions. The first Power Parasol was installed at Arizona State University’s lot 59 football parking lot in Tempe. The 2 MW system covers 5 acres of parking and has transformed a necessary evil for commuting students into an environmentally attractive space. Besides shading for parking, other value added features have been realized, such as a destination for tailgating events and a gathering place for corporate events. And additional Power Parasols are under construction on ASU’s Tempe campus at the Memorial Union and the Gammage performing arts theater, and at a Fry’s marketplace in Phoenix.
There are many other outdoor gathering places that might benefit from the Power Parasol, including public parks, university campuses, and entertainment venues.