Your shopping trip for essentials at Walmart may not have given you a rooftop view of it, but there’s a chance your neighborhood store could be running on clean, solar energy. The retail giant already has solar photovoltaics on more than 300 stores or distribution centers. Plus, its corporate website states, “By the end of 2030, our aim is to advance our transition as a society toward emissions free energy by enabling up to 10 gigawatts of new clean energy projects into service on- and off-site – the equivalent of the annual power consumption of more than 2 million households.”

Walmart ranks in the middle of a list of Top Corporate Solar Adopters by the Solar Energy Industries Association. Ranking top on the list is Meta, then Amazon, Google and Apple. Rounding out the list is Home Depot. SEIA reports that Google is also leading the way with energy storage.

Many mega businesses like these can quietly add solar arrays on their massive roofs without visibility to shoppers, and some say very little about it. Others like Target are more vocal, opening its first Net Zero energy store just a few years ago in California. Several also support off-site community solar installations that both businesses and residents can potentially subscribe to.

Corporate decisions to add clean, renewable energy are not only attributable to their concerns about slowing climate change, but also to their awareness that the U.S. has a growing demand for electricity. Companies relying on large amounts of data processing add to the overall growing energy need. The Inflation Reduction Act has also provided some financial support for these long-term investments in energy and financial savings.

Anne Brock is marketing coordinator for Solar Alliance, which designs solar projects for manufacturers and other businesses. She’s at abrock@solaralliance.com or 865-221-8349.

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