By Hayley Ringle for Phoenix Business Journal
As solar investments by businesses grow across the U.S., Arizona is a leader with 148 megawatts of installed corporate solar projects, according to a recently released report.
The Solar Energy Industries Association’s 2018 Solar Means Business Report, released July 25, said tech giant Apple Inc. is now the leading user of corporate solar in the U.S. with nearly 400 megawatts of installed capacity.
In 2018, Apple announced its global operations were powered 100 percent by renewable energy sources.
In Arizona, Apple’s $2B Mesa data center is purchasing solar power from the 50-megawatt Bonnybrooke plant in Florence through a partnership with Salt River Project.
While the report does not rank states by its corporate solar investments, Dan Whitten, vice president of public affairs for SEIA, said Arizona is a leader with its 148 megawatts of installed corporate solar projects.
The report contains data from both on-site and off-site installations, tracking more than 7,000 megawatts of installed solar capacity across 35,000 projects, which is up from 2,500 megawatts and 7,000 projects in the 2017 report.
A 100-megawatt planned solar project in Coolidge will steer renewable energy to several large tech, retail, mining and government customers through SRP. The planned project, believed to be the largest solar farm in Pinal County, is expected to be operational by the end of 2020.
Nikola Motor Co., which is planning on manufacturing hybrid long-haul trucks in the state, is also planning to put solar on the rooftop of its new $75M Phoenix headquarters that opened in June.
Read more at Phoenix Business Journal.