Home furnishing retailer IKEA has announced that the rooftop solar array atop its store in Canton, Michigan, will be expanded by approximately 25% due to new construction on building.
Since September 2014, IKEA has been working on a 44,000 square-foot expansion to the store, on top of which new PV panels will be installed, starting in Spring 2015 and reaching its completion later that summer.
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The PV expansion, which will be comprised of a 240.9kW system with 765 panels, is expected to generate an additional 287,490kWh of electricity for the store. Once the expansion is installed, the Canton store will produce 1,426,490kWh of electricity per year — the equivalent of removing 984 tonnnes of CO2.
Matt Hunsicker, IKEA Canton store manager, said: “We are thrilled at the opportunity to increase the amount of solar energy generated and used by this store. This is another example of the IKEA commitment to create a more sustainable life for communities where we operate.”
Solar power integrator and distributor Inovateus Solar LLC is responsible for the design, development and installation of the store’s new power system.
Almost 90% of IKEA stores in the US have integrated solar power into their construction, with the Swedish company planning for a total generation goal of 40MW in the US. As part of the company’s goal to be energy independent by 2020, IKEA has built up around 700,000 solar panels on facilities around the globe while owning over 150 wind turbines in Europe and Canada, with 104 additional turbines being built in the US.
IKEA has been especially active in the solar market this year, announcing in September that it was expanding its residential solar sales to eight new markets, including the Netherlands in October and Switzerland in December.
