Ohio Walmarts roll out solar power

Staff/wire report

DAYTON

Wal-Mart is rolling out solar power at a dozen Ohio stores.

The giant retailer has installed solar-power arrays atop the stores in a process that’s been in the works during the past year. They started producing power Monday.

The Dayton Daily News reports that it will increase Ohio’s total solar-power generation by 10 percent. Wal-Mart says the project makes it the state’s largest single solar-power user.

The solar panels sit on the rooftops of the stores and are not visible from the ground.

The Walmarts and Sam’s Clubs that installed the solar-power systems are in Mason, Xenia, Greenville, Austintown, Middletown, Franklin, Youngstown, Liberty, Toledo, Milford, Loveland and two in Cincinnati.

Last year, for example, the Walmart in Liberty began installing 1,927 solar panels on the roof of the business. The big-box store hired a local contractor to do the work.

Nearly the entire roof of the store is covered with panels that will provide up to 455 kilowatts of energy per hour. The panels are designed to last 25 years, about the same length of time as a commercial-grade roof.

Wal-Mart says there will be more such installations coming to Ohio.