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Amazon Pledges To Cover 15 Massive Warehouse Rooftops With Solar Panels (arstechnica.com)
Amazon announced earlier this week that it would install solar panels on 15 of its fulfillment and sorting centers around the U.S. in 2017. "Depending on the specific project, time of year, and other factors, a solar installation could generate as much as 80 percent of a single fulfillment facility's annual energy needs," Amazon wrote in a press release. "That energy will provide electricity for everything from keeping the lights on to powering Amazon Robotics at fulfillment centers," reports Ars Technica. From the report: Amazon is finding stride with other major companies, but it's a bit short compared to some of its more ambitious peers. For example, Google announced in December that by the end of 2017 it would be using a carbon offsets program to pay for as much renewable energy as all of its data centers and offices worldwide consumed. The search giant said at the time that the move to renewable energy wasn't just for show -- it was about avoiding energy price fluctuations in the long term. That's a sentiment Amazon echoed as well in its Tuesday press release. "We are putting our scale and inventive culture to work on sustainability -- this is good for the environment, our business, and our customers," wrote Dave Clark, Amazon's senior vice president of worldwide operations. "By diversifying our energy portfolio, we can keep business costs low and pass along further savings to customers. It's a win-win."
And I for one am glad that Amazon Sustainability is taking such a forward-looking cost-cutting measure by using large-scale renewable energy instead of expensive and polluting fossil fuels for the bulk of their warehouse roofing space.
Kudos to Seattle's former transit czar!
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I mean, Amazon must be getting carbon credits or something for this, right? Right? /s
Covering the entire rooftop of one of these facilities should provide far more electricity than required to operate it. Robots, lighting, and even HVAC should represent fairly modest loads in comparison.
A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
By that logic, Tesla paid double and Uber's in Venezuela-class financial trouble.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
At what point do we stop praising companies for "going green," when switching to solar just makes financial sense?
The company will net profit from this investment. It also happens to be good for the environment, so hooray, but I'm willing to bet the former was the real reason for this.
It kinda feels like praising companies for cancelling their ritual kitten sacrifice. They might be doing it out of the goodness of their hearts, or maybe kittens are just getting pricey, and then you've gotta steam clean the carpets because SOMEONE tracked blood everywhere...
This signature is false.
Although I'm pleased to see this announcement, living here in Lakeland, FL where there's a fairly large Amazon distribution center I'm really disappointed that there's no move this year to put these here, when they're going to be putting them in Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey. In virtually every solar radiation average exposure map I've seen, Florida generally receives more solar radiation than all three of those states - and sometimes more than areas of California as well. This area is ripe for this, at least from a physical standpoint. I have to assume there's some sort of governmental roadblock in the way at the moment that isn't to their tastes, because it certainly can't be because they won't generate enough power down here.
Londovir
you are a prime example of someone who does no research before making ignorant posts
"The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
here's an option... http://www.solarcity.com/resid...
"The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
Kinda difficult to take seriously someone who capitalises their egregious spelling errors
IRRELIABLE? Both irresponsible and unreliable. It's not misspelled, you just didn't get it. Don't feel bad.
<blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
How's life in the hypocrite lane?
No, the point of installing solar panels on the roofs is to run ceiling fans and cooling systems during periods of extreme heat and cold.
The main power need for warehouses tends to be at the times when the sun shines most brightly. Most modern warehouses can run dark much of the time, waking up those parts they need when they're used.
The roof space isn't being used, and if you build to modern codes you already need a roof structure that can support modern solar panels. It's a way to monetize your investment, bringing power generation to where it's used, and cutting costs for long distance transmission. You can charge up forklifts and trucks (most modern ones from places like PACCAR) at the same time, or use hot swap battery power. You can even generate water, or split water into power cell fuel.
The world has changed from the old days when I worked in giant warehouses and ran forklifts and power systems. Now it's all integrated, and only used when it's used. Cooling and heating costs are some of the most costly aspects of warehouse operation, and since these are modern warehouses, the labor component is highly robotic in nature.
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