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Swedish retailer IKEA is going to open a new store in the State of Tennessee this Fall. The furniture retailer will install a 1.46MW solar power system atop of the store’s rooftop, which will be the largest rooftop PV system in the state when completed.
The new store, IKEA Memphis, will be built on 35 acres in the Wolfchase Corridor along the southwestern side of Interstate-40 near the Germantown Parkway exit. It will have approximately 800 parking spaces and is scheduled to open later in this year. this Fall. The furniture retailer will install a 1.46MW solar power system atop of the store’s rooftop, which will be the largest rooftop PV system in the state when completed.
The store’s 250,675-square-foot solar array will consist of 4,424 panels, and will produce approximately 2,000,000 kWh of electricity annually for the store, the equivalent of reducing 1,406 tons of CO2 – equal to the emissions of 297 cars or providing electricity for 205 homes yearly.
Hannah Solar, an Atlanta-based solar service provider, has been selected to develop and design the solar array on IKEA Memphis’ rooftop. Linkous Construction is managing the site work and building of the store.
The solar project will be IKEA’s 44th solar project in the United States, contributing to the IKEA solar presence atop nearly 90% of its U.S. locations, with a total generation goal of more than 40 MW. All of the solar arrays are owned and operated by IKEA. Globally, IKEA allocates to invest US$2.5 billion in renewable energy through 2020. IKEA has installed over 700,000 solar panels on buildings around the world and owns approximately 300 wind turbines.