Tuesday, October 01, 2013: Ikea is planning to sell solar systems at all 17 of its outlets in the United Kingdom within one year. A pilot store by Ikea, which was opened near London, had earlier sold almost one solar system per day. The furniture and houseware giant seems to think that the British solar market is lucrative as a result of government sponsored initiatives and medium electricity prices.
Further, according to some reports, the cost of solar powered systems for homes has dropped to a point where people can pay back their loans in seven years. Moreover, fitting a solar powered system at your home means that you will have as much as 50 per cent on your electricity bill, which you can use to pay back the loan for the solar system in your house. Currently, a solar system in the UK cost $9,200, which is for a 3.36 kilo watt. This is way higher in US, where they are priced at a starting price of Rs 13,000.
Further, Ikea has partnered up with Chinese company Hanergy Solar, which is concerned with on going maintenance and monitoring the energy of the solar systems. Further, the solar systems sold in the United States are sold by Home Depot and Lowe. Both companies have a separate unit for solar systems.
On the other hand, Ikea hasn’t decided whether it is going to sell its units in the United States or not. According to reports, the famed furniture giant has decided to take a case by case decision on which all countries it will sell its solar units in.
Within the company, in order to fulfill its energy needs, Ikea is planning to be 100 per cent dependent on renewable energy by 2020. The company also plans to complete 70 per cent by 2015.
To put things in perspective, Ikea currently has 27 per cent of its electricity requirements coming from renewable sources of energy. The company has six wind farms in Europe and 70 per cent of the Ikea stores and distribution centers in the US are powered by solar energy. The company is ranked four on the top US solar power users.
