Superstores Going Solar

A growing number of the U.S.’s largest retailers — including Wal-Mart, Kohl’s, and Whole Foods — are installing solar panels on their roofs to cut electricity costs, relying on economies of scale and tax incentives to make up for solar power’s high cost. To date, these chain stores have installed solar panels on fewer than 10 percent of their buildings, but that pace is increasing rapidly. Wal-Mart has 17 stores and distribution centers equipped with solar panels but is weighing a plan to use solar and other renewable energy sources at hundreds of its stores. Experts estimate that solar panels could generate 10 to 40 percent of a store’s energy needs. Most of the solar installations are in three states — California, New Jersey, and Connecticut — that offer generous tax incentives for renewable energy. Retailers are racing to install solar panels by Dec. 31, when federal tax incentives may lapse. The increased demand has driven up the price of solar panels, which remain a far more expensive energy source than coal.