IKEA Goes Solar in the US

IKEA knows that a large segment of its clients await for eco-conscious improvements. It seems that these changes will come faster than expected, since the Swedish furniture retailer IKEA has recently announced it is going to count on solar power to provide clean energy for 33 of its 44 facilities in the US.

Many more companies felt encouraged to invest time and money in projects involving renewables, especially solar power, since the price of these installations has dropped considerably, GreenBiz reports.

The main goal set by major companies, including IKEA, is to have unlimited access to clean energy while paying less for what they use.

The company doesn't want to rent or host solar power installations, since it appears convinced that owning them would provide even more benefits, without having to deal with the terms and conditions imposed by shareholders.

“We own our land and we own our buildings, and we want to own the systems on our roofs -- we don't host them and we don't lease them. We think it's a big difference regarding the extent of our commitment to renewable energy and sustainability," affirmed IKEA Spokesman Joseph Roth.

All in all, installations applied for three stores located in Florida, Texas, Virginia, Georgia and North Carolina are expected to offer up to 15.2 million kilowatt hours of earth-friendly electricity every year, while using arrays counting 45,360 photovoltaic panels.

IKEA is keen on minimizing its ecological footprint and solar power is not the only green goal its representatives have in mind.

The eco-conscios company is collaborating with planning ECOtality to install EV charging stations for nine of its stores located in Oregon,Washington,California, Washington and Arizona, to make sure a larger number of its clients will be able to embrace the same eco-friendly values. By the end of next year, IKEA wants to own 30 Blink EV chargers.