One of the world’s largest home furnishings retailers, IKEA has announced the start-up of the 148,200 sq ft solar photovoltaic (PV) array at its College Park, Maryland store. The array includes a 1,196-kW solar energy system, designed with 4,984 panels.
The solar system will generate nearly 1,571,800 kWh of energy per year, which is equal to powering 135 homes annually, removing 213 cars off the road, or minimizing 1,195 tons of carbon dioxide.
The College Park installation is IKEA’s 15th solar project in the U.S. and 22 more installations are under process. The retailer owns and operates all its solar energy systems installed at the rooftop of its buildings. IKEA has partnered with REC Solar to design, develop and install the solar PV energy system at its College Park store. REC Solar is one of the leading solar electric installers in the U.S. with global installation of over 8,000 systems.
In addition, to doing business, the home furnishings retailer focuses on decreasing impact on the environment resulting from its operations. The company assesses all its locations frequently for energy saving opportunities, uses flat-packs goods for effective distribution, works together with Global Forest Watch to preserve sustainable resources and integrates ground-breaking materials into product design. Some of its sustainable initiatives include allowing recycling of compact fluorescent bulbs of customers, avoiding plastic bags from the departing process, installing water conserving restrooms and skylights in warehouse areas, recycling construction materials, and recycling waste materials like paper, wood and plastic. In addition, IKEA installs electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at nine of its Western US stores.
Source: http://www.ikea.com/us/