Aldi UK pledges rooftop PV expansion

Aldi, the low-cost German supermarket, is regularly gently mocked in the U.K. for its utilitarian layout, bargain-basement brands and a color scheme that was evidently chosen before the emergence of marketing-driven focus groups.

But Aldi is also rightly held up as a beacon of good business sense and, increasingly, admirable corporate social responsibility. The supermarket giant already has 85,000 solar panels installed across nine distribution centers and 275 stores in the U.K., and can boast an impressive 17,500 MWh of solar electricity per annum.

Not content with this, Aldi announced this week that it is to more than double its solar PV capacity in the U.K., aiming to end 2017 with an additional 11,000 solar panels installed atop remaining roof space up and down the country.

Announced during the Solar Trade Association’s (STA) Solar Independence Day on July 4, Aldi will extend its solar footprint to 50 additional stores, bringing its total investment in PV in the U.K. to £17million. The supermarket chain calculates that its solar generation capacity is enough to meet the power needs of 6,200 U.K. households, and to mitigate the effects of 8,100 tonnes of CO2.

“Installing our 96,000^th solar panels means we are using all of our distribution centers and more than one third of our stores across the U.K. to generate electricity from solar power, marking a further significant step in our journey to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2020, while continuing to grow,” said Aldi UK communications director Mary Dunn.

“Efficiency is at the core of our business model and green initiatives, such as generating our own electricity and reducing waste, help Aldi provide our customers with the lowest prices on great quality products.”