Today, Walmart announced it has reached an agreement with US Solar to subscribe to 36 of US Solar's community solar gardens located throughout the state of Minnesota.
US Solar's 36 one-megawatt (MW) community solar gardens will generate clean, renewable energy and provide energy savings to Walmart locations in 13 separate counties. The first solar gardens have completed construction and the remainder are targeted to be online by the first half of 2020.
Community solar in Minnesota allows businesses, public entities, and residents to subscribe to an offsite solar garden without having to site solar directly on their property, thereby enabling subscribers to reduce their retail electricity costs while also supporting clean, local energy. Subscribers receive energy savings in the form of a bill credit on their retail electric bill based on the amount of energy produced each month by their subscribed portion of the solar gardens.
The bill credits that Walmart will receive are based on Minnesota's Value of Solar methodology, which takes into consideration the value of the solar energy delivered to the utility by the community solar gardens, as well as other grid and environmental benefits.
In October 2018, Walmart announced it reached an agreement with SunPower to have the commercial energy provider install solar systems at 19 stores and two distribution centers in Illinois.
As part of the project, a mix of rooftop and ground-mount solar systems are expected to account for 23 megawatts. This commitment moves Walmart closer to its 2025 goal of supplying its global operations with 50% renewable energy.
Walmart is financing the solar projects through a power purchase agreement (PPA) arranged by SunPower, which allows the retailer to buy power at competitive prices and hedge against future utility rate increases with no upfront capital costs. Walmart will own the renewable energy credits associated with the system.
