Earth Protect Blog

Furniture giant, IKEA, just switched on a 573-kW solar power system, which covers 65,000 square feet of space at their Sacramento, California store. The array is made up of approximately 2,548 panels and will help to cut 630 tons of carbon dioxide per year from the atmosphere. The solar array is the eighth solar power project that IKEA has finished in the US, and they still have plans to build twelve more — four more in California and eight on the East Coast.

“We at IKEA believe in the never-ending job of striving to improve the sustainability of our day-to-day business,” said Heine Roikjer, IKEA West Sacramento store manager. He added, “The IKEA coworkers in West Sacramento are excited to help contribute to this goal with our newly operational solar energy system.” The new solar array will provide 795,500 kWh of clean solar energy annually, and is equivalent to removing 109 cars from the road or powering 69 homes for a year.

IKEA has been hip to the green energy movement, and they were the first US retailer to ban incandescent light bulbs. They also manufacture solar powered lighting — like this lamp — and have built their own wind farm, which currently power 17 Swedish stores.

It seems this retailer isn’t just hopping on the green wagon for show, they’re putting their money where their mouth is and bumping up their green cred with real-world clean energy solutions.