Home furnishings retailer IKEA has officially plugged in an expansion of a solar project completed last April atop its Perryville, Md., distribution center. The company says the system was already Maryland's largest rooftop solar array, and the new panels nearly double the size of the original project.
The 467,618-square-foot solar addition consists of a 2.2 MW system, built with 7,337 modules, and will produce 2,695,355 kWh of electricity annually. Including the existing system, IKEA says the distribution center's total 4.9 MW solar installation of 25,913 panels now will generate 6,092,533 kWh of clean electricity yearly. For the development, design and installation of the Perryville center's systems, the company contracted with Inovateus Solar LLC.
Last year, IKEA says it achieved its goal of completing solar installations atop nearly 90% of its U.S. buildings (39 out of 44 locations), with a generation goal of 38 MW. IKEA owns and operates each of its solar PV systems and has allocated $1.8 billion to invest in renewable energy globally through 2015.
"We are fortunate to have the roof spaces and corporate commitment to nearly double the energy being generated by this facility," says Steffen Daab, IKEA's distribution center manager." We are proud to make this investment and to grow our local sustainable footprint."
