Stop & Shop, a chain of grocery stores in the Northeast, is going solar.
The company announced Thursday that it was installing solar panels at eight stores in New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Combined, the panels will produce an estimated 1.8 million kilowatt-hours of solar each year - as much as 153 average homes would consume.
The decision to install solar energy arrays was motivated by Stop & Shop's desire to reduce carbon emissions 20 percent from a 2008 baseline by 2015. For a supermarket chain, carbon emissions cuts can come in a variety of forms: Efficiency improvements involving newer refrigerated-goods cases or better lighting technology are one way to reduce fossil-fuel energy consumption, while installing carbon-free renewable energy is another.
"Businesses are waking up to the benefits of solar power," Stop & Shop director of public affairs Faith Weiner said. "As one of the largest food retailers in the Northeast, we're proud to incorporate solar panels into our buildings."
Food retailers have some of the narrowest profit margins in the corporate world, so for supermarket chains, saving money wherever possible is an imperative. For Stop & Shop, solar power looks like a smart investment.
