The Home Depot has selected Current, powered by GE to support a significant expansion of its rooftop solar energy program. Current partnered with Home Depot on site selection, project implementation plans, financing and incentive capture for 20 solar installations in New Jersey, as well as 10 additional stores in Connecticut, Maryland and Washington, DC. The 11.9 Megawatt (MW) portfolio will deploy approximately 30,000 rooftop solar panels and reduce electricity grid demand by an estimated 30 to 35 percent annually at each Home Depot store.
“Our alternative energy projects are important elements of our sustainability and operations efforts as they reduce carbon emissions while also lowering our energy costs,” said David Hawkins, vice president of labor and operations for The Home Depot.
The solar power installations are part of Home Depot’s renewable energy initiative which also includes wind farms, solar farms and fuel cells that will bring the company’s renewable energy footprint to more than 130 MW.
“Home Depot is a great partner to demonstrate the value of onsite solar energy as a practical, affordable and important business strategy, and drive further market adoption,” said Erik Schiemann, General Manager of Solar at Current. “We are now beginning to leverage digital technology to collect data that will help our customers become even more efficient.”
The Current team will add metering technology as part of the solar installations at select Home Depot stores in each region. Digital tests will gather data about local grid interaction and onsite plant production, as well as detailed weather tracking sensor data. These insights will help Home Depot optimize energy usage long term at similar locations.
Current by GE has begun construction on the selected stores, which will continue throughout 2017. Earlier this year, the Boston-based company announced a number of additional solar energy projects at businesses across the Northeast, including the debut of a new 2.26 MW solar carport at GE’s Schenectady campus, the region’s largest project of its kind. Solar solutions from Current are now generating clean energy to fuel industries ranging from healthcare and retail to manufacturing and municipalities.