While people are familiar with what’s inside The Home Depot, they’re less familiar with what’s on top of it: approximately 104,000 square feet of rooftop space. In 2017, the home improvement retailer launched a pilot solar farm program using rooftops at four stores—and the sun—to become a big box of sunshine.
During seasons like summer, energy use skyrockets and puts strain on the grid. This zero-emission renewable energy source can help by reducing a store’s annual electricity grid demand by an estimated 30-35%. That’s equal to powering 2,300 homes per year.
Since the end of 2018, the program has grown to include 45 stores with sun-fueled power plants. This puts The Home Depot within arm’s reach of its goal of 50 solar farms, 50,000 solar panels, and 5.2 million square feet of rooftop solar farms.
At locations with cloudy weather, they use fuel cells, which function as mini power plants that can cut emissions by as much as 50%.
The Home Depot is moving toward a bright, sustainable future by reaching 135 megawatts of renewable energy, like solar and wind, by 2020.
Interested in learning more about sustainability at The Home Depot? Want to explore residential solar energy?
