Commercial, Distributed Generation, Solar, Sourcing Renewables  -  March 7, 2016

Warehouse rooftops remain largely untapped solar energy sites

While many big box stores like Wal-Mart, Target and Kohl’s are leading the way toward corporate solar uptake, warehouses have remained largely overlooked according to a recent post on Triple Pundit. Warehouse operator Prologis is reportedly the second-largest corporate solar power generator in the U.S., and logistic companies could reap energy-cost savings while lowering their carbon footprints by following suit.

"Prologis' partners are all over the map, from mainstream NRG Energy and Bank of America to Green Finance SF for a project in the Bay Area," according to the article. It goes on to say:

Estimates on how much warehouse space is in the U.S. vary, but one university study suggests there is about 76 square feet of such space per capita, or about 24 trillion square feet (about 862 square miles, or larger than the area covered by New York City and Los Angeles combined). Yet much of that power lies untapped, despite the incentives available in several states.

Prologis' solar efforts to date have gone mostly unnoticed in the media, and are not prominently displayed on the company's website. Under a section of the site that discusses climate change, one finds this description, "Another way Prologis is addressing climate change is through its energy program. As one of the world’s largest owners of rooftops, Prologis has a huge potential to leverage its real estate portfolio for hosting solar energy systems. Prologis Energy partners with utilities or investors seeking to provide renewable energy to their customers. In addition to solar programs, Prologis Energy also leverages its expertise to provide building tenants with energy-efficiency measures and utilities with clean energy and energy storage solutions."

As such, it appears the commercial renewable energy sector has room to run when it comes to tapping warehouse rooftops.

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