January 5, 2007

Responses to Wal-Mart’s Solar RFP Due Today

Wal-Mart put out an RFP last month to solar electric suppliers that could amount to a solar installation on the order of 100 megawatts of power over the next five years, CNET reports. Even if the RFP leads nowhere, it indicates a growing corporate interest in sustainable practices and technologies. Today is Wal-Mart’s deadline to receive responses to the RFP. 

“To put that into perspective, the solar system currently being installed at Google headquarters in California–the largest single corporate solar installation in history–is 1.6 MW, about 1/60th the size,” wrote Joel Makower, who saw the proposal.

iSolutions, the systems integration arm of Energy Innovations, is constructing the solar electricity system for Google’s Mountain View, California, headquarters campus.

Wal-Mart proposal calls for a system that could be replicated across its stores in five states and make use of roofing space.

“Putting out the RFP alone has some level of significance,” an insider told Makower. “Going through with it will be epic. If they follow through, it will be profound and will have a long-lasting impact on the global solar industry. And probably on the mindset of retailers around the planet.”

Wal-Mart is already using solar power in its experimental stores.

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