The Ikea furniture store in Tempe plans to build solar panels on its roof to become a more sustainable commercial building, becoming one of the largest buildings in Arizona with solar panels.
The 342,000 square-foot Swedish furniture store, which occupies 23 acres along the Interstate 10 and Warner Road, will have 2,600 solar panels that take up 46,000 square feet. The solar panels will produce enough energy to power 86 homes annually, according to a press release from Ikea.
Jackie Terry, spokeswoman for the local Ikea store, said annually, the store will produce 1 million kilowatts per hour.
“We’re furthering our sustainability commitment just like ASU,” she said.
Ikea will be reducing its carbon footprint and making everyday life better for many people, she said.
The company would not make such a large investment if it didn’t know it would be beneficial in the long run, she said.
“It’s the largest commercial installation in the SRP service area,” she said. “That’s pretty significant.”
A solar power system is already operational at the store in Pittsburgh, Penn., and installation is underway for the store in Brooklyn, NY, according to the release.
Gloria Solar, a manufacturer of solar products, has been chosen to design, customize and install the system, according to the release.
Harvey Bryan, a professor in the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture and the School of Sustainability, has been working with solar energy for 30 years and said solar energy in Arizona “makes sense.”
“What we’re seeing in a lot of the big box stores — WalMart, Staples, Home Depot — all of them, particularly the big stores in California, have really embraced solar energy,” he said.
There is a lot of rooftop area and it makes a lot of sense, Bryan
“We have a lot of rooftops on buildings that aren’t doing anything. They’re collecting a lot of sunlight,” he said. “That energy is going to waste.”
Anytime a city or individual can use a building to be a collective use of energy, it’s a good thing, Bryan said.
“Solar panels are very effective,” he said. “Plants and trees convert solar energy at less than 1 percent efficiency.”
Solar panels can run from 8 to 16 percent efficiency, Bryan said.
“Which is OK because we have a lot of sun in Arizona,” he said.
The whole United States could run on a couple hundred square miles of solar panels in Arizona, Bryan said.
“We get a tremendous amount of energy here and even with that low conversion rate we have enough electricity to supply much of what we use in the U.S. on an annual basis,” he said.
Reach the reporter at mmbarke1@asu.edu
