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Wal-Mart readies large-scale move into solar power
January 3, 2007
The retail giant at the end of last year put out a request for proposals to suppliers soliciting bids on what could be a large-scale installation of solar electric power at company stores.
Responses to bids, initially expected at the end of February, are being delayed, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.
One company bidding on the deal said Wal-Mart's decision has been put off four to six weeks, which would put the date for bid responses in April.
"I'm actually not too surprised. They only gave themselves six or seven weeks to evaluate some very complex proposals covering stores in multiple states," an executive at a solar provider said. "They're smart to take their time."
A Wal-Mart representative on Tuesday declined to provide further details on the company's solar-power request for proposal.
The company's moves in renewable energy are closely watched because of its sheer size and its stated commitments to environmentally friendly practices.
Clean-technology consultant Joel Makower, who saw the original proposal, said in a blog in January that the investment could represent 100 megawatts of power, dwarfing other well-known corporate solar-power installations.
Wal-Mart has a long-term policy headed up by Andy Ruben, vice president of corporate strategy and sustainability, of using 100 percent renewable energy.
Another goal stated by Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott is to make its stores 20 percent to 30 percent more energy-efficient.
The company has two experimental stores--in McKinney, Texas, and Aurora, Colo.--that use renewable power sources including solar and wind. In January, it opened four high-efficiency stores designed to serve as prototypes for the clean-energy initiative, according to the company.
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The US has far greater solar energy potential than most countries, yet Germany leads the world in installed solar power systems, despite the fact that their weather is far less favorable to solar power than most of the US. Also don't forget the fact that Germany is only about twice the size of Wisconsin. We should easily be further ahead with solar power than anyone - we have the financial capabilities and the sunlight. Our legislators just need to stop pandering to the oil boys. Solar power systems aren't cheaper in Germany, but the government there has made it a priority and have implemented programs to make it financially more feasible. Hopefully Walmart's move will have a stimulus effect for solar in the US.
The US has far greater solar energy potential than most countries, yet Germany leads the world in installed solar power systems, despite the fact that their weather is far less favorable to solar power than most of the US. Also don't forget the fact that Germany is only about twice the size of Wisconsin. We should easily be further ahead with solar power than anyone - we have the financial capabilities and the sunlight. Our legislators just need to stop pandering to the oil boys. Solar power systems aren't cheaper in Germany, but the government there has made it a priority and have implemented programs to make it financially more feasible. Hopefully Walmart's move will have a stimulus effect for solar in the US.