Solar energy is being deployed on a massive scale by the most iconic brands and best-managed companies in the U.S.-- including Apple -- in order to help lower operating costs and increase profits.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the Vote Solar Initiative (Vote Solar) today unveiled a report naming the companies using solar on their facilities in the U.S., ranked by cumulative solar energy capacity.
The Top 20 (in terms of on-site solar capacity deployed) are: Walmart, Costco, Kohl’s Department Stores, IKEA, Macy’s, McGraw-Hill, Johnson & Johnson, Staples, Campbell’s Soup, Walgreens, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Toys ‘R’ Us, General Motors, FedEx, White Rose Foods, Dow Jones, Snyder’s of Hanover, ProLogis , Hartz Mountain Industries, and Crayola.

Other companies that are significant users of solar include Apple, Bloomberg LP, Del Monte Foods, GE, Google, Intel, JC Penny, Kaiser Permanente, Lackland Storage, Lord & Taylor, L’oreal USA, Mars Snackfood, US Foods LLC, Stop and Shop, Merck, REI, SAS Institute and Tiffany & Co. Combined, the Top 20 corporate solar users’ installations generate an estimated US$47.3 million worth of electricity each year. See the full report at www.seia.org/SolarTop20 .

In addition to looking at overall capacity, the report quantifies solar deployment by number of operating solar power systems, percentage of facilities outfitted with solar, and the geographic diversity of the installations.

"These companies know that solar energy allows them to reliably manage their long-term energy costs and in turn also helps to keep their customer prices low," says SEIA President and CEO Rhone Resch. "Solar helps these top American companies focus on their core business by reducing overhead costs."