Drawing from the Swedish heritage and respect of nature, IKEA continuous introducing products that are good to the environment and keeps transferring to operate by a more eco-friendly way, such as building its own solar projects.

Illinois’s largest rooftop solar array will be completed by IKEA because the furnishings retailer will start installing solar panels for its Midwest distribution center in Joliet, Illinois in Spring 2017.

The rooftop solar array for the Joliet distribution center is expected to be completed in Fall 2017. IKEA will install 8,966 solar panels to cover an area of 470,545-square-foot atop of the distribution center, which is currently under construction, and ultimately build a 2.91MW solar array. The array is expected to produce approximately 3,411,600 kWh of electricity annually for the facility, the equivalent of reducing 2,398 tons of CO2.

For the development, design and installation of the facility’s solar project, IKEA selected SoCore Energy, a wholly owned, indirect subsidiary of Edison International. Gray Construction is managing the construction of the Joliet distribution center, which will receive and inventory goods sold at IKEA stores worldwide.

“We are excited to further our sustainability commitment with solar panels on our future Midwest distribution center,” said Lars Peterson, IKEA U.S. president. “Installing Illinois’ largest rooftop array advances our vision of creating a better everyday life for the many.”

Combined with arrays atop the Chicago-area IKEA stores in Bolingbrook and Schaumburg, this third project will make IKEA owner of three of the state’s largest solar rooftop installations. Furthermore, IKEA’s renewable energy portfolio in Illinois includes a 49-turbine wind farm in Hoopeston.