Walmart, SolarCity Helping To Boost Ohio Solar Energy
Walmart has been busy in pushing solar power in the past week. Hot off the heels of increasing their solar installations in Hawaii, the retail giant — along with SolarCity — is putting up new rooftop solar systems on a dozen Walmart and Sam’s Club outlets in Ohio.
The new panels will create approximately 6 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of solar electricity. That’s more than enough to power over 820 houses, according to the press release. Walmart also expects to receive between 5% to 20% of each of its stores’ electricity from the new systems.
“Solar power makes sense for Walmart, and it makes sense for Ohio,” said David Ozment, Walmart’s Senior Director of Energy. “We are committed to increasing the use of renewable energy resources, including solar panels, at our stores in Ohio and throughout the country.”
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Meanwhile, Bill Spratley, Executive Director of Green Energy Ohio, said the new solar energy systems will represent 10% of all solar installations within Ohio. Spratley also noted Walmart’s new solar investment in the state will cut 5,500 tons of carbon emissions, approximate to taking 1,152 cars off the road every year.
“Walmart continues to forge new ground as the number one corporate solar user in America,” said Lydon Rive, CEO of SolarCity. “This project brings SolarCity to the state of Ohio for the first time, and is expected to increase the state’s overall solar generation capacity by more than ten percent.”
In 2011, Ohio had 31.6 megawatts (MW) of grid connected solar capacity, which was 22.5 times the capacity in 2008, when it was 1.4 MW.
Ohio Walmart and Sam’s Club locations receiving the new panels include: Youngstown, two stores in Cincinnati, Loveland, Toledo, Austintown, Greenville, Xenia, Mason, Middletown, Milford, and Franklin.
With this solar investment in Ohio, the U.S. Midwest may provide new opportunities for Walmart to reach its goal of being completely powered by renewable energy. With lots of other clean energy resources like wind, biofuels, and hydro, who knows what the retail giant will do next in this potential market of the Midwest.
Main Source: Walmart
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