Dive Brief:
- Best Buy is putting a solar garden atop one of its New York stores and installing solar power generation near a distribution center in California.
- With the installations, the tech retailer’s Long Island City, New York, store becomes its “first brick-and-mortar to host a rooftop community” solar installation, according to a Thursday press release.
- In 2020, Best Buy signed the Climate Pledge and committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2040, accelerating a prior 2050 net-zero target. Best Buy is also a founding member of the Race to Zero retail campaign, which launched in 2021.
Dive Insight:
Best Buy adds the new solar installations to a portfolio that includes solar projects in South Carolina, Michigan, California and Texas, according to Thursday’s press release. In addition to a 2040 net-zero target date, Best Buy also has goals to reduce its operational carbon emissions — scope 1 and scope 2 — by 75% by 2030, compared to a 2009 baseline.
The rooftop solar garden at the Long Island City store will generate an estimated 461,800 kilowatt hours annually, which will be sent to the local grid and distributed to subscribers of a third-party community solar program, Best Buy said. The company will also use a solar field near a Dinuba, California, distribution center — with 5.87 annual gigawatt hours of capacity — to help power the center and reduce its energy usage.
Tim Dunn, the company’s head of environmental sustainability, noted in the press release that Best Buy’s corporate social responsibility report for fiscal year 2025 found that the retailer has reduced its operational emissions by 74%, compared to its baseline. He said the company is “excited to keep making strides toward reducing our carbon emissions across our operations.”
The Long Island City solar installation is expected to generate enough electricity to power an estimated 44 homes and businesses annually, while the Dinuba field is expected to generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 559 homes, according to Best Buy.
The two new sites add to the five solar fields Best Buy had previously announced.
Best Buys said in its FY2025 corporate social responsibility report that it will look to reach its carbon reduction targets “by minimizing our energy usage, advocating for a cleaner grid and sourcing from renewable energy sources, and neutralizing remaining emissions with additional quantifiable, permanent and socially beneficial offsets.”
