U.S. businesses and top global brands are making historic investments in solar energy. As of 2019, Apple leads the nation with the most solar capacity installed, followed closely by Amazon, Target, Walmart and Google. There is 15 times more solar capacity installed by American businesses today than there was a decade ago...
SEIA’s eighth annual Solar Means Business Report follows solar adoption by businesses across the U.S., ranging from some of the country’s largest and most recognizable brands to the small businesses that make up our communities. In addition to the solar systems located on rooftops and at commercial facilities, this report also captures large off-site installations that U.S. companies invest in to power their operations. Both installation types have grown considerably in recent years.
Through 2019, this report tracks more than 8,300 megawatts (MW) of installed solar capacity across 38,000 projects in 43 states, representing more than 70% of all commercial solar capacity installed in the U.S.
Top 10 Rankings
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Installed Capacity (MW)
1.
Apple
398.3
2.
Amazon
369.0
3.
Walmart
331.0
4.
Target
284.8
5.
Google
245.3
Installed Capacity (MW)
6.
Kaiser Permanente
181.8
7.
Switch
179.0
8.
Prologis
133.7
9.
Facebook
119.5
10.
Solvay
81.4
Commercial Solar Coast to Coast
As solar prices have fallen and options for investing in clean energy have expanded, the number of commercial solar installations has grown rapidly across the country. From rooftop systems on local businesses, to solar parking canopies supporting a corporate headquarters, to large off-site installations powering data centers, these projects are as diverse and varied as the companies themselves.
The map below shows every commercial solar installation tracked in this report. The bubble size corresponds with that system’s solar capacity.
Use the filters and toggles to interact with the data and learn more about how successful U.S. businesses are progressing towards a solar future.
Financing Type
System Capacity
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SEIA Members have access to the full Solar Means Business dataset, including detailed project-level information.
Major Brands & Businesses Lead the Way
Companies invest in solar for many reasons: to power their operations, to meet environmental goals or simply to save money on their electricity bills. The companies tracked in this report are leading the way. Whether it supports data centers and computing, retail and product distribution, or manufacturing, these companies are using solar to move their operations forward.
Use the interactive chart below to see how many of the leading corporate brands in America have increased their investment in solar energy over time.
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Growth in U.S. Commercial Solar Installations
Corporate solar adoption has expanded rapidly over the past several years, with two thirds of all capacity installed since 2015. The 1,286 MW installed in 2019 represents a 10% increase from 2018 and is second to only 2017 for annual commercial deployment. The surge in on-site commercial solar continued in 2019, with a record 844 MW installed, while 441 MW of off-site projects were completed. The systems tracked in this report generate enough electricity each year to power 1.6 million U.S. homes.
Annual Installed Corporate Capacity (MW)
Learn More About the Top Corporate Solar Users
Apple
Total Solar Capacity: 398.3 MWRanking: #1
Apple Park - Cupertino, California
The choice between a healthy planet and good business strategy has always been a false one, and we’ve proved that with a company that runs on 100% clean energy and a supply chain transitioning to do the same. Solar power has been part of our environmental journey for more than a decade, and we’re grateful to the SEIA for this recognition of the strides we’ve made, and the strides of two of our suppliers also in the SEIA top 25. Together, we’ll reach our goal of making all our products with a net zero climate impact by 2030, and hopefully, inspire others to act urgently in defense of our planet and future generations.
The choice between a healthy planet and good business strategy has always been a false one, and we’ve proved that with a company that runs on 100% clean energy
Amazon is committed to powering their operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025 as part of their goal to reach net zero carbon by 2040. As of June 2020, Amazon has 91 renewable energy projects across the globe that have the capacity to generate over 2,900 megawatts (MW) and deliver more than 7.6 million megawatt hours (MWh) of energy annually—enough to power more than 680,000 U.S. homes.
“We are well on our way to power Amazon operations using 100% renewable energy by 2025, with over 90 wind and solar projects across the globe”
Walmart is targeting zero emissions in their own operations by 2040, not just in the U.S., but globally. They intend to achieve this without carbon offsets by harvesting enough wind, solar and other energy sources to power their facilities with 100% renewable energy by 2035, moving to cooling equipment that uses low-impact refrigerants and electrifying our vehicles, including long-haul trucks, by 2040.
“Our growth in solar use reflects our ongoing and longstanding commitment to climate action, including getting to 100% renewable energy globally by 2035”
Target will reduce its absolute Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent below 2017 levels by 2030. They also committed to 80 percent of their suppliers setting science-based reduction targets on their Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2023.
Since 2003, Target has installed over 500 rooftop solar PV systems
Google is the first major company to make a commitment to operate on 24/7 carbon-free energy in all of their data centers and campuses worldwide. This is far more challenging than the traditional approach of matching energy usage with renewable energy, but they are working to get this done by 2030. This will mean every email you send through Gmail, every question you ask Google Search, every YouTube video you watch, and every route you take using Google Maps, is supplied by clean energy every hour of every day.
“[Google] will enable 5 GW of new carbon-free energy across our key manufacturing regions by 2030 through investment. We expect this to spur more than $5 billion in clean energy investments”
Kaiser Permanente has installed solar power at 100 sites. That power will generate 114 megawatt-hours by 2021, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 27,203 tons. Kaiser Permanente will continue to expand its focus by reducing the carbon footprint of its supply chain in the next phase of becoming carbon neutral.
“By investing in renewable energy and becoming carbon neutral, Kaiser Permanente is helping to prevent climate-related illness for people worldwide”
Since January 1, 2016, Switch data centers run on 100% renewable energy. Guided by the vision of Founder and CEO Rob Roy, Switch continues to work on ensuring the sustainable growth of the Internet. This effort has been recognized by Greenpeace in its latest Clicking Clean Report where Switch scores all A grades, the highest rating for any class of company – and is the definitive leader among colocation operators. Switch was one of two primary supporters for a ballot initiative in the state of Nevada to create a well-regulated open-energy market. This ballot was successfully passed with 73% of the vote – making it the most successful ballot in Nevada’s history. The result of this initiative extends not only to businesses who operate in Nevada, but also to the residents of the state.The Switch Sustainability Initiative has driven all Switch data centers in North America to be run by 100% renewable energy. In 2016, Switch began construction of two solar power stations in Las Vegas, Nevada with a combined 179MW of capacity. These facilities have the ability to power all Switch data centers with 100% renewable energy, remove the equivalent of 50,000 cars off the road, and eliminate 265,000 carbon tons of emission from the environment.
“This acknowledgement further cements Switch’s position as a leader in sustainability, which tremendously benefits our customers, the communities where we operate and our planet”
Prologis commits to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 21 percent by 2025 and 56 percent by 2040 from a 2016 base-year and reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions 15 percent by 2025 and 40 percent by 2040 from a 2016 base-year. Prologis also commits to 400 MWs of installed solar capacity across their portfolio by 2025.
“Rooftop solar is a vital component of Prologis’ growing portfolio of customer-focused renewable energy solutions, and we are proud to be honored by SEIA as we work toward our goal of doubling our on-site generating capacity to 400 megawatts by 2025”
In 2020 and beyond, Facebook has pledged to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for our global operations (scopes 1 and 2) and be supported by 100 percent renewable energy. They also committed to reaching net zero GHG emissions for our value chain (scope 3) in 2030.
“Climate change is a crisis we will only be able to address if we all work together on a global scale and Facebook is committed to playing its part and helping to inspire real action in our community. We are taking steps to reduce our emissions and setting the goal to reach net zero for our company’s value chain by 2030”
Solvay committed to doubling the rate at which it reduces emissions, with a goal of curbing greenhouse gas emissions by 26% and aligning its trajectory with the “well below 2°C temperature increase” goal outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement by switching to renewable and low carbon energies, improving energy efficiency continuously, and developing clean technologies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions released by chemical processes.
"Solar power plays a key role in our Solvay One Planet initiative, which aims to reduce our emissions by 26% by 2030"
In 2019, Kohl’s used more than 60,000 MWh of solar energy, meaning more than 5% of the electricity we used to power our business came from renewable sources. Many of our stores get up to 50% of their energy from solar. We currently host more than 160 solar arrays around the country totaling more than 200,000 solar panels and 9 solar trees.
"At Kohl's, we believe incorporating sustainable solutions in the way we do business will help to build better futures for families"
The price to install an on-site commercial solar PV system declined 12% from 2018 to 2019 and has fallen by 30% over the last five years, allowing corporate solar buyers to increase the size of their solar PV systems and power larger shares of their operations. This drop in prices has also had a meaningful impact on corporate climate goals. 15 of the top 25 companies in this report have publicly committed to achieving 100 percent renewable energy or better.
Price by System Size
Average Commercial System Size
Size Increases as Prices Decline
Exploring the Rankings
The wide variety of businesses that invest in solar energy excel in various ways. The rankings below tease out business leaders in overall solar installed, on-site solar capacity, and total number of installations.
Overall Rankings (On-site & Offsite)
Capacity (MW)
1.
Apple
398.3
2.
Amazon
369.0
3.
Walmart
331.0
4.
Target
284.8
5.
Google
245.3
Capacity (MW)
6.
Kaiser Permanente
181.8
7.
Switch
179.0
8.
Prologis
133.7
9.
Facebook
119.5
10.
Solvay
81.4
Rankings by Number of Installations (On-site & Offsite)
Installations
1.
Target
513
2.
Walmart
391
3.
Walgreens
230
4.
Kohl's
160
5.
Aldi
113
Installations
6.
Macy's
106
7.
Kaiser Permanente
91
8.
Costco
85
9.
Brookfield Properties Retail
68
10.
Prologis
64
Overall Rankings (On-site Only)
Capacity (MW)
1.
Target
255.3
2.
Walmart
161.2
3.
Prologis
133.7
4.
Amazon
109.0
5.
Apple
85.3
Capacity (MW)
6.
Kaiser Permanente
71.8
7.
Brookfield Properties Retail
65.3
8.
IKEA
57.6
9.
Macy's
53.3
10.
Kohl's
51.8
Corporate Solar State by State
Commercial solar installation density varies across the country depending on the unique environmental, economic and regulatory characteristics of each state. The top states hit the sweet spot in all three categories, while those looking to catch up are often just a smart policy decision away from realizing the economy-wide benefits solar can bring to the business community.
Browse the map to learn more about the top commercial solar adopters in your area.
Tracked solar capacity is not inclusive of every commercial installation in a given state. See methodology in full report.