IKEA

Ikea is no stranger to embracing efficient technologies that help reduce the brand’s carbon footprint. The latest big move from the Allen-wrench-included furniture maker sees the company using three-wheeled electric bikes with solar panels for a home delivery pilot.

IKEA announced it’s collaborating with Electrify America to bring ultrafast public charging stations to over 25 US IKEA retail locations.

IKEA announced yesterday that it’s partnering with residential energy services provider SunPower, a 35-year solar veteran, to sell home solar panels to US customers. The Swedish-based multinational company wants to make solar more easily accessible for consumers.

Vehicle manufacturers are ramping up electric vehicle production, so big companies like Amazon, AT&T, and IKEA are telling vehicle manufacturers what kinds of EVs they want. Here’s the “blueprint” that members of the Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance are today presenting to makers like Volvo, GM, and Daimler explaining which EVs they want to purchase in the United States over the next five years.

The Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance (CEVA), a coalition of 28 major US and global companies and fleet operators, released a letter today urging automakers to rapidly expand their zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) offerings. The group also specified what kind of vehicles they want. CEVA, which is led by nonprofit Ceres, includes such corporate heavy hitters as Amazon, American Airlines, Best Buy, DHL, T-Mobile, and Uber.

More than 70 large companies and investors representing $30 billion in assets sent a letter today to governors across the US urging the acceleration of the switch to zero-emission trucks, vans, and other large commercial vehicles. Will their letter make an impact?

STRÖMMA is a locality in Stockholm County, Sweden. And it’s also the name Swedish furniture and home goods giant IKEA has given to its new clean energy retail service from next month in its home country.

Boston-based sustainability nonprofit group Ceres has launched the Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance, a new group to help companies accelerate the transition to electric vehicles.

The Alliance’s flagship members are Amazon, AT&T, Clif Bar, Consumers Energy, DHL, Direct Energy, Genentech, IKEA North America, LeasePlan, Lime, and Siemens.

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The AP reports today that IKEA will begin selling solar panels. Not just a back up iPad battery but like whole house to grid assemblies.

Swedish flat-pack furniture giant IKEA will start selling residential solar panels at its stores in Britain, the first step in its plan to bring renewable energy to the mainstream market worldwide. The company started selling solar panels made by China’s Hanergy in its store in Southampton on Monday. It will sell them in the rest of Britain in coming months, it said.

A standard, all-black 3.36 kilowatt system for a semi-detached home will cost 5,700 British pounds ($9,200) and will include an in-store consultation and design service as well as installation, maintenance and energy monitoring service.

Getting Solar in front of more eyes and making it easier for consumers to swallow is a big step in improving consumer adoption. If the UK test run is successful (and if you can sell solar in cloudy Britain, why not?) then I’m hoping to see a wider rollout globally.

Even in Britian, the break even point for solar is 7 years so I’d imagine sunnier places, like *everywhere*, will be more successful. The UK does have a solar friendly environment however:

The U.K. government offers private solar panel owners the opportunity to sell back electricity to the grid on days when they have surplus production and has a financing plan for solar power investments, which means residents can buy a system for no upfront cost and pay it off gradually.