Solar Means Business: Top Commercial Solar Customers in the U.S.

Solar Means Business:Top Commercial SolarCustomers in the U.S. WalMart: Marina, CA Photo Credit: SolarCity September 12, 2012

Introduction What do Walmart, Costco, IKEA, McGraw Hill, Johnson & Johnson and FedEx have in common? They know a smart investment when they see one, and are all adopting solar energy in a big way. From the largest corporations to small businesses, U.S. companies are installing solar energy to take control of their energy costs and improve their bottom line. As of mid-‐2012, businesses as well as non-‐profit organizations and governments across the United States have deployed more than 2,300 megawatts (MW)1 of solar electric (photovoltaic or PV) systems on more than 24,000 individual facilities—and this number is growing rapidly; during the first half of 2012, over 3,600 non-‐residential PV systems came online, an average of one every 72 minutes. 2 The rapidly falling cost of solar energy has made solar an increasingly appealing investment for American businesses. Between the second quarter of 2011 and the second quarter of 2012, the average price of a completed commercial PV system fell by nearly 14 percent.3 The economics of PV have become so attractive that many of the best managed corporations, which are synonymous with low cost and efficiency, are adopting solar energy on a massive scale across the U.S. This report, prepared by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the Vote Solar Initiative (Vote Solar), highlights those companies that have deployed the most solar energy capacity at their facilities for onsite consumption. In total, the 42 companies analyzed for this report have deployed at least 321 MW of PV capacity at more than 750 locations in at least 26 states and Puerto Rico. The 20 companies with the highest installed capacity have deployed at least 279 MW, enough to supply all the electricity needs of 46,500 American households. These solar leaders include some of America’s most iconic brands and biggest businesses. In addition to installed capacity, this report also ranks companies by the number of operating installations as well as the geographic diversity of their solar deployment. U.S. Companies Deploy Solar Energy from Coast to Coast This map shows the locations of the on-site PV systems identified by this research. For an interactive map with updated information, visit: http://www.seia.org/map/ corporate-solar-projects.php 1 A megawatt of solar capacity is enough to supply all the electricity needs for 75-‐218 homes depending on the region of the country. For more info see http://www.seia.org/policy/solar-‐technology/photovoltaic-‐solar-‐electric/whats-‐megawatt 2 SEIA and GTM Research, “U.S. Solar Market Insight Q2 2012” https://www.slideshare.net/SEIA/us-‐solar-‐market-‐insight-‐report-‐q2-‐ 2012 3 Ibid. 2

Solar Value Proposition Solar Means Busi Ranking America Energy can make up a significant portion of a business’s operating costs. Companies are installing solar at record rates because it reduces operation expenses, improves their bottom line, and allows them to Top 20 Corporate focus resources on their core business strategies. The price of solar energy systems has dropped rapidly over the past 5 years. In some places, it is more Solar Users cost-‐effective to deploy solar than buy electricity from the local utility. And no matter where the company is located, solar provides predictably priced electricity for 20 to 30 years. This hedge against utility price volatility is highly valuable to businesses that are focused on managing long-‐term budgets. Combined with innovative financing options that further reduce upfront costs, solar has a new value proposition that makes business sense for major companies nationwide. *COMPANIES Top 20 Companies by Solar Capacity 1. Walmart Stores, Inc. 65000 2. Costco Wholesale )!M 38900 CUSTOMERS ARE 3. Kohl’s Department Stores SERVED BY SOLAR 36474 EACH MONTH POWER ) 4. IKEA 21495 5. Macy’s 16163 6. McGraw Hill 14113 P 2 0 TOTA L TO 7. Johnson and Johnson 11619 ! 8. Staples, Inc. 10776 9. Campbell’s Soup 10. Walgreen Co. 11. Bed Bath and Beyond 9900 8163 &** SOLAR ENERGY 7543 12. Toys “R” Us 5676 SYSTEMS " 13. General Motors 5630 14. FedEx Corporation 4889 15. White Rose Foods 4888 16. Dow Jones & Company 4100 17. Snyder’s 3500 OF IKEA STORES HAVE SOLAR INSTALLATIONS &(% # 18. ProLogis 3499 19. Hartz Mountain Industries 3438 Total Installed Capacity 20. Crayola 3356 (kW) $ Companies across the country have made enormous investments in solar to manage their operating costs. The list above ranks the top 20 of these companies by the iP 2 0 TOTA nstalled capacity, or the maximum power potential measured in kilowatts (kW, 1,000 kW = 1 MW), o TO f all of their L n-‐site solar installations o 3 %

Top Companies by Number of Systems 1. Walmart Stores 144 2. Walgreen Co. 134 3. Kohl’s Department Stores 124 4. Costco Wholesale 62 5. Macy’s 41 6. Staples, Inc. 35 7. IKEA 30 8 (tie). Lackland Storage 26 8 (tie). REI 26 10. Whole Foods Market 17 11 (tie). General Motors 12 11 (tie). Johnson and Johnson 12 13. Prologis 10 14. Lord & Taylor 8 15. JC Penny 6 16 (tie). FedEx Corporation 5 16 (tie). Hartz Mountain Ind. 5 18 (tie). SAS Institute 4 18 (tie). Stop and Shop 4 18 (tie). Toys “R” Us 4 18 (tie). Tiffany & Co 4 18 (tie). L’Oreal USA 4 Total No. of Solar Energy 18 (tie). Bed Bath & Beyond 4 Systems Installed Some companies have high energy demand at a single facility and build one or two large systems to meet that need. Others have dozens or hundreds of stores and facilities that could benefit from solar. The rankings above list the Top 20 companies by the number of solar installations at company locations. Those at the top of this list have made repeated decisions to go solar, building off of earlier successes. Macy’s: Irvine, CA. Photo credit: San Onofre Safety.org 4

Solar Leaders by Percent of Stores Macy’s 5% The data at left demonstrates the COSTCO 14% percentage of U.S. company stores with solar for a few notable companies. It is not a full ranking, rather a comparison IKEA 79% between some of the top solar users that were already part of this report’s analysis. It should be noted that smaller REI 20% companies could well have solar at all of their company locations or could even Kohl’s 11% be net exporters to the grid, meaning companies generate more solar energy onsite than is consumed by their facility. Top Companies by Geographic Diversity While companies with facilities in California and the Southwest have certainly taken advantage of the ample solar resources and effective IKEA - 16 states solar policies, corporations REI - 10 states have gone beyond those well-‐ known solar markets with Kohl’s Department Store - 10 states installations all across the Walmart Stores, Inc. - 7 states country. Many corporations have solar energy systems in Walgreen Co. - 6 states diverse states including Whole Foods Market - 5 states Michigan, Wisconsin and Staples, Inc. - 5 states Massachusetts, which is a strong indication that solar General Motors - 5 states energy can make business Costco Wholesale - 5 states sense in all U.S. climates. This list ranks the top companies Macy’s - 4 states by the number of states in which they have deployed PV at their facilities. 5

Solar workers on WalMart. Photo credit: SolarCity Big Plans The companies ranked here and many more continue to expand their investments in solar energy at a rapid pace. Companies such as Apple, which has a 20 MW system under construction at a datacenter in North Carolina, have announced plans for major solar deployment. Others such as General Motors have decided to enter the solar business themselves. Businesses as well as other large energy consumers like non-‐profits, schools and public agencies are expected to add 7,000 megawatts of additional PV systems over the next five years. That’s enough to replace seven retiring coal power plants. Other Notable Companies While this report focused on the corporations with the most solar deployment, many other companies big and small choose to go solar every day to take control of their energy costs. In researching this report we identified the following companies as having significant on-‐site solar deployment but did not feel confident in providing rankings due to both known and unknown missing data. Anheuser Busch Del-Monte Foods Mars Snackfoods Apple Google Merck Bloomberg LP Intel Pepsi Boeing Kaiser Permanente Sabert Corporation Coca-Cola IKEA: Bloomington, MN. Photo credit: Businesswire 6

Methodology The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the Vote Solar Initiative (Vote Solar) set out to rank the top corporate users of solar energy in the U.S. To do this, SEIA and Vote Solar combed public databases and contacted company representatives to collect data on their use of PV systems.4 While researchers made every effort to collect detailed, complete and accurate data, not every company responded to surveys, and public databases do not capture all installations. Furthermore, new systems are installed every day. In the first half of 2012 alone, over 3,600 individual non-‐residential systems came online in the U.S. Ultimately, SEIA and Vote Solar believe this is an accurate portrayal of the leading corporate users of solar energy in the U.S., but reserve the right to make adjustments as new data becomes available. SEIA and Vote Solar only counted on-‐site PV systems that supplied power directly to company facilities. This does not include utility PV power plants that sell wholesale electricity. While some companies buy solar renewable energy credits (SRECs) from solar power generated off-‐site, this report does not consider such transactions due to limitations in data collection and verification. Likewise, SRECs produced by many onsite PV systems are sold to utilities or other buyers; while companies that sell their SRECs do not retain the environmental attributes of the system, such systems are still counted for the purposes of this report as the decision to deploy an onsite solar system is an essential step in solar energy development. Many important companies have made massive investments in helping others go solar. Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Google and others have provided billions of dollars in financing for solar energy systems in the U.S. While these investments are big business and central to the development of the solar energy industry, they are not the focus of this report. These rankings only include PV systems that were operational as of mid-‐August 2012. If you see an error or omission or would simply like to add new data, please email research@seia.org. Please direct all press questions to Monique Hanis (mhanis@seia.org), Rosalind Jackson (rosalind@votesolar.org) or Jamie Nolan (jnolan@seia.org). www.seia.org/SolarTop20 4 This report only considers the use of photovoltaic systems, which produce electricity. It does not represent the use of solar heating and cooling (SHC: water heating, space heating, space cooling or process heat) due to lack of public databases. 7

http://onesolarroof.com	143
https://twitter.com	4
http://twitter.com	2
https://si0.twimg.com	1
http://www.linkedin.com	1

Solar Means Business: Top Commercial Solar Customers in the U.S.

by Solar Energy Industries Association on Sep 11, 2012

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

5 Embeds 151

Statistics