IKEA switches on 2,300-panel solar system at California store
Furniture retail giant IKEA officially plugged-in the solar energy system installed at its East Bay store in Emeryville, California, yesterday.
The 68,000-square-foot PV array consists of a 538-kW system, built with approximately 2,394 panels.
IKEA Emeryville’s program will produce approximately 760,300 kWh of clean electricity annually, the equivalent of reducing 578 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), eliminating the emissions of 103 cars or powering 64 homes yearly.
This investment by IKEA to purchase its solar photovoltaic energy system with Gloria Solar modules, and to install and operate it atop the Emeryville store it owns, will lower the carbon intensity of the electrical grid.
It also represents the 11th completed solar energy project for IKEA in the United States. Additional installations currently are underway at one other IKEA location in California as well as eight more in the Eastern U.S.
Gloria
For the development, design and installation of this customized solar power system, IKEA contracted with Gloria Solar, the U.S. operating group focused on the photovoltaic business within the family of E-Ton Solar Group.
This project is the third IKEA installation in the 70,000-square-mile service area of PG&E, the utility providing natural gas and electric service to approximately 15 million people throughout northern and central California.
Patrick Choa, IKEA Emeryville store manager, said: “IKEA has a never-ending job where most things still remain to be done. We constantly ask ourselves how we can improve what we do today for a better tomorrow. We appreciate the support of the City of Emeryville, PG&E and Gloria Solar, our partners in this project.”
IKEA, drawing from its Swedish heritage and respect of nature, believes it can be a good business while doing good business and strives for its operations to minimize impacts on the environment.
Located on 15 acres at the confluence of I-80, I-580 and I-880, the 274,000-s.f. IKEA Emeryville opened in April 2000 and employs 300 coworkers.
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