Solar-powered warehouse rooftops could power nearly 19.4M US homes: report

If the rooftops of American warehouses were all bedecked with solar panels, these buildings would generate enough solar energy to power almost 19.4 million U.S. households each year, a new report has found.

There are more than 450,000 such warehouses nationwide, with nearly 16.4 billion cumulative square feet of flat, sunny rooftop space — or about twice the area of Memphis, Tenn., according to the report, which was released Thursday by the Environment California Research & Policy Center and the Frontier Group.

The rooftops of medium and large warehouses built before 2019 could produce 185.6 terawatt-hours of solar electricity annually — with the greatest potential in California, Florida, Illinois, Texas and Georgia, per the report.

“Putting solar panels on the nation’s warehouses would be good for businesses, good for electricity customers, good for the grid and good for the environment,” the authors stated.

Generating the full 185.6 terawatt-hours of solar power would eliminate more than 112 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, the report found. This would be equivalent to removing more than 24 million gasoline-fueled passenger vehicles from the road each year.

Collectively, the warehouses would produce 176 percent of their annual electricity use — enabling these buildings to feed the surplus back into the grid and power surrounding communities, according to the report.

In California, more than 66,000 warehouses and distribution centers have more than 1.5 billion square feet of rooftop space — enough to generate more than 32 terawatt-hours of electricity each year and power nearly 5 million homes, the authors determined.

“California needs more rooftop solar, and expansive, flat warehouse roofs are the perfect spots for solar panels,” said Steven King, a clean energy advocate for the Environment California Research & Policy Center, in a statement.

“More solar on warehouses would help preserve open space, reduce pollution and produce much-needed renewable energy throughout the state,” King added.

The report urges businesses to set ambitious goals for solar installation while calling upon government officials at all levels to implement solar-friendly policies.

Some such policies include sufficient compensation for businesses that generate solar power and deliver environmental benefits to their communities, as well as support for community solar programs, third-party financing tools and streamlined interconnection processes, according to the report.

“Putting solar on warehouse roofs is not just a great environmental decision, it’s also a smart business decision,” Terry Tamminen, president and CEO of AltaSea, a 35-acre ocean innovation hub at the Port of Los Angeles, said in a statement.

“More warehouse owners should use these ideal spots to produce clean energy, avert harmful pollution, increase the value of their property, and save on their electricity bills,” Tamminen added.