Walmart Adds Solar Power To Local Stores

Source: Sacramento Business Journal, Mark Anderson
Photo: Walmart is on track to have 75% of its California stores powered, in part, by solar panels. (COURTESY OF SOL SYSTEMS LLC)

Seven Walmart stores in California, three of them in the Sacramento area, have installed 6.5 megawatts of solar photovoltaic systems on the roofs of the buildings and on solar carports.

The local stores are in Sacramento, North Highlands and Placerville.

The power from the renewable electricity will be used to offset grid power costs, said Will Patterson, spokesman for Washington, D.C.-based Sol Systems LLC, which managed the installations.

“The installation of these solar panels on our stores in California bring us closer to our goal to supply 100% of our global electricity needs with renewable energy by 2035 and reinforces Walmart’s broader mission to spark collective climate action,” said Mark Vanderhelm, Walmart vice president for energy and facilities management, in a news release.

The solar installations highlight growing corporate interest in addressing climate change risk, which is being mandated by governments and a growing list of investors.

Last year, Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) set a goal targeting zero emissions by 2040 across its global operations and powering 100% of its facilities with renewables by 2035.

These Sol Systems arrays are not large enough to power an entire store. They will be behind the meter, which means the solar energy will be used only for the store, Williams said. Sol Systems has installed over a gigawatt of commercial solar all over the country.

The other locations in the Sol Systems contract were in Burbank, Calexico, Perris and Wasco. What all the locations share in common is that they are in hot climate areas, and the solar will likely be used to offset daytime air conditioning and refrigeration load.

Neither Walmart nor Sol Systems disclosed the cost of the installations, but industry trade publication PV Magazine reported that it totaled $10 million.

The majority of the solar panels at most of the new locations are on top of new shade structures in the stores’ parking lots.

Last September, Walmart also engaged SolarCity to install solar panels at 60 stores across California, according to Energy, a digital magazine that covers the oil, gas and utilities industries. Energy reported that Walmart was on track to have solar on more than 130 of its stores, representing 75% of its locations.

https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2021/04/15/walmart-adds-solar-to-more-california-stores