Lowe’s is putting rooftop solar on 174 of its stores

Lowe’s announced today that it’s going to put rooftop solar on 174 of its stores and distribution centers in the US, including 20 sites currently in operation.

Lowe’s installs rooftop solar

Once each site is completed, the solar panels will provide around 90% of the energy usage at each location. Here’s how the installations at the 174 locations are going to play out:

Infiniti Energy will install rooftop solar on 20 stores that are currently operational in New Jersey. Solar panel installations at six more Lowe’s stores in the state are in development and scheduled to come online later this year.

DSD is working with Lowe’s to install rooftop solar on 55 stores in California and 36 stores, and three distribution centers in Illinois. Construction is expected to begin at all sites by the end of 2023.

Greenskies Clean Focus will begin rooftop solar installations later this year on 52 stores and two distribution centers in California. The initial production for the combined 48 MW portfolio is projected at 76 GWh per year.

Lowe’s has a 2025 goal of reducing scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 40%, relative to 2016 emissions levels, four years early, and it aims to be 50% powered by renewables by 2030.

Electrek’s Take

Lowe’s has not been a leader in rooftop solar to date, so this announcement is good news. The company has more than 1,700 stores in the US, so that’s a lot of roofs that still don’t host solar.

In comparison, The Home Depot’s goal is to produce or procure 100% renewable energy by 2030, equivalent to the electricity needs for all its facilities. Home Depot ranks third in the retail category on the Solar Energy Industries Association’s 2022 “Solar Means Business” report with 140 megawatts of solar capacity.

Will Lowe’s catch up? Chris Cassell, Lowe’s vice president of corporate sustainability, describes this announcement as an “initial rooftop solar portfolio,” so maybe it will up its game.

Photo: Lowe’s

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