Solar energy is being deployed on a massive scale by the most iconic brands and best-managed companies in the U.S. in order to help lower operating costs and increase profits. The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the Vote Solar Initiative (Vote Solar) have unveiled a report naming the companies using solar on their facilities in the U.S., ranked by cumulative solar energy capacity. Learn more: www.seia.org/top20Solar

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

2. 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

3. 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
%

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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