The southern part of Dallas County is certainly all abuzz about the upcoming opening of the IKEA store in Grand Prairie, but the popular home furnishings retailer is also proud of its Swedish heritage and its respect for doing good business while also minimizing impacts on the environment.
That’s why the new Grand Prairie IKEA is planning to install a solar atop its future store that will be 181,500-square-feet. That is equal to the emissions of 197 cars and electricity provided to 208 homes yearly.
This installation is the 48th one that IKEA has done in the United States at their stores nationwide.
Joseph Roth, IKEA U.S. Expansion/Property Public Affairs representative said while the retailer overall does not have an “original statement per se” as to why the company strives to be kind to the environment, he does add “it's just our Swedish heritage and our IKEA values.”
Roth said too, “In general, all new projects are evaluated for onsite renewable energy potential.”
The panel installation has already begun at the Grand Prairie IKEA, which is set to open in early fall.
The solar array will consist of a 1.25 MW system, built with 2,800 large format panels and it will produce roughly 2,000,000 kWh of electricity annually for the store.
That means the equivalent of reducing 1,406 tons of carbon dioxide.
In terms of costing a bit more to save the environment, Roth said “it definitely makes the project more expensive because of the investment to purchase the solar energy system. However, we have realized costs savings in others stores by going solar, and expect it to happen in Grand Prairie too.”
The development, design, and installation of the new store’s solar power system is being done by SunPower, one of the world’s most innovative and sustainable energy companies.
“We are excited about furthering our sustainability commitment and a low-carbon society with solar panels on this Grand Prairie store,” said Lars Petersson, IKEA US President. “IKEA has a mission to create a better everyday life for the many, and IKEA Grand Prairie can add to this goal while also keeping us the largest non-utility private solar owner in Texas.”
IKEA owns and operates each of its solar PV energy systems atop its buildings versus solar leasing and has allocated $2.5 billion to invest in renewable energy through 2020. In addition, the company has installed more than 700,000 solar panels on buildings across the world and owns approximately 300 wind turbines, including 104 in the United States.
The Grand Prairie IKEA store will be located at Highway 161 and Mayfield Road north of Interstate-20. With 290,000 square-feet and 1,100 parking spaces, it is being built on 30 acres of land.
A Fort Worth IKEA is also scheduled to open in the summer of 2019.