Electronics retailer Best Buy is continuing its stride toward net-zero emissions goals by 2040, targeting both its operational footprint and its physical stores.

Two new solar sites are now active at Best Buy locations in New York and California. In Long Island City, N.Y., the Best Buy Solar Garden became the retailer's first brick-and-mortar location to host a rooftop community solar garden.

According to a release, this rooftop system will generate roughly 461,000 kWh of electricity annually through a rooftop solar system in a 371.8-kW layout. The project will produce enough energy to power about 44 homes and businesses each year, furthering Best Buy’s environmental commitment to the local community.

Subscribers will retrieve the energy credits generated by this system through a third-party-managed community solar program once allocated to the local grid, Best Buy explained.

Meanwhile, the Best Buy Solar Field in Dinuba, California, will generate a much larger output with enough capacity to power the equivalent of 559 homes. The solar field, located at the retailer’s Dinuba distribution center, will produce roughly 5.87 million kWh annually to help power its operations and reduce overall energy usage.

This new California project joins the retailer’s Little Bear Solar Project in Fresno County, which generates 480,000 MWh of electricity, producing enough energy to power roughly 715 stores in the state.

“These new solar projects are just another way we are investing in the future for our employees and the communities we serve,” said Tim Dunn, Best Buy’s head of environmental sustainability. “We already cut carbon emissions in our operations by 74% since 2009 and are excited to keep making strides toward reducing our carbon emissions across our operations.”  

Best Buy notes that these projects also advance its broader sustainability goals by driving a circular economy while simultaneously reducing its environmental footprint. This framework actively eliminates waste and reduces the use of new, raw natural resources by ensuring materials and products are continuously repurposed instead of sent off to landfills.

The new solar sites join other existing Best Buy solar projects across the U.S., including two off-site tax-equity solar facilities in Michigan, a 174,000 MWh solar field in Martin, South Carolina and two large-scale solar projects in Texas. Big Star Solar (46.8 MW) in Bastrop County and Prospero 2 Best Buy Solar in Andrews County (331 MW).