CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. — IKEA has officially plugged-in an expansion of the solar rooftop array on its Perryville, Maryland, distribution center. The company said installation of the new solar panels nearly doubles the size of the original project, which already was the state’s largest rooftop array.

The 467,618-square-foot solar addition is a 2.2-MW system, built with 7,337 modules, and will produce 2,695,355 kWh of electricity annually. Including the existing system, the distribution center’s total 4.9-MW solar installation of 25,913 panels now will generate 6,092,533 kWh of clean electricity yearly.

For the development, design, and installation of the Perryville distribution center’s original and expanded solar power system, IKEA contracted with Inovateus Solar LLC, a solar power distributor and integrator specializing in large-scale solar installations.

“We are fortunate to have the roof space and corporate commitment to nearly double the energy being generated by this facility,” said Steffen Daab, distribution center manager. “We are proud to make this investment and to grow our local sustainable footprint.”

Constructed on 278 acres in Perryville, this 1.7 million-square-foot IKEA distribution center began operations in 2002, employs approximately 550 workers, and supplies inventory to many U.S. IKEA stores. The amount of solar power generated will allow the facility to mostly use its own energy.

For more information, see www.ikea-usa.com.

Publication date: 7/21/2014

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