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COURTESY WALMART
Janie Whitehead, manager of Walmart in Kapolei, with the store’s new rooftop photovoltaic system. Walmart has equipped its Kapolei, Kahului and Kailua-Kona locations with solar panels to help the retailer cut its electricity bill.
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Walmart has completed the installation of solar photovoltaic panels at three more of its stores in Hawaii, doubling the number of its outlets statewide that are partly powered by the sun’s rays.
The nation’s largest retailer unveiled PV systems Wednesday at its stores in Kahului, Kailua-Kona and Kapolei. The new PV systems are in addition to ones Walmart previously had installed at its stores in Mililani, Lihue and on Keeaumoku Street in Honolulu.
During the first full year of production, each of the three new 311-kilowatt solar power rooftop systems is expected to produce about 400,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, or enough to power 55 homes using 600 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month. Each rooftop system is expected to eliminate 320 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, according to Walmart.
The new PV systems were installed by San Francisco-based SunEdison LLC, a subsidiary of publicly traded MEMC Electronic Materials Inc.
"We are committed to making decisions that are not only good for business and the environment, but also allow us to pass on savings to our customers," said Rey Armijo, Hawaii market manager for Walmart. "We’re excited about the expansion of our solar program in the islands and this important step towards our goal of being supplied 100 percent by renewable energy."
Hawaiian Electric Co. customers in Oahu, Maui and Hawaii counties installed a record 92.8 megawatts of PV generating capacity last year.
The increase was more than double the 38.3 megawatts installed in 2011, and brought the utility’s cumulative PV capacity to 171.3 megawatts, or enough electricity to provide the needs of about 35,000 homes using 600 kilowatt-hours a month.