Love Target? Here’s Another Reason Why You Should

Back in 2015, Target, the eighth largest retailer in the United States, set the goal of installing solar panels on the rooftops of 500 of its stores by 2020. Installing 100 commercial solar systems a year was ambitious even to Solential. (We’re kind of an ambitious company ourselves!)

Although Target stores follow a fairly consistent footprint, there are a number of variations that solar system designers and installers must consider: size and age of the building and condition of the roof for example. A tremendous amount of upfront planning and commitment to execution went into this project.

We were also impressed Target had achieved their goal ahead of schedule. The accomplishment, announced last November, gets Target closer to its goal of having 100 percent of its electricity come from renewable energy by 2030. With 1,844 stores in the United States, the retailer has ten years to convert the remaining 1,344 stores.

The solar systems in the 500 stores generate 240 megawatts of electricity. According to Target spokesperson Lee Henderson, this is about 15-30 percent of the electricity a store needs to operate. The systems are having a positive effect on the Minneapolis-based retailer’s bottom line and its environmental impact.

“It saves us money, it saves us energy and it does good by the local communities,” Henderson said. “We’re really focused on the planet and wanting to do things today that will ensure that we’re around tomorrow, for the business and for the planet.”

In a company statement,Target’s VP of Property Management, said, “Ambitious energy goals have helped us accelerate our progress and reach major milestones. And we’ll continue to invest in technologies, partners and resources to help us achieve even more.”

Although Solential is not involved in Target’s move to solar energy, we congratulate them for recognizing that meeting energy needs through solar is not only good for one’s business, school or government building, it’s good for communities and the environment. For a well respected and popular retailer like Target to recognize this and more importantly, take action, sends a powerful message about the importance of moving to sustainable energy sources like solar.

So if you needed another reason to love Target, here it is. It’s a good one!

Interested in making a difference in your energy costs and in your community? Talk to Solential and explore the opportunities of moving to solar.