Summary:

Amazon has Colorado’s largest single rooftop solar panel installation at its 855,000-square-foot robotics fulfillment center in Thornton. The solar-powered system will contain 17,280 solar panels, with the ability to generate over 6 MW of solar power capacity.

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Amazon Tops off New Fulfillment Center with Colorado's Largest Rooftop Solar Panel Installation

Amazon has installed Colorado’s largest single rooftop solar-powered system at its 855,000-square-foot robotics fulfillment center in Thornton.

Gov. Jared Polis joined local elected officials and community leaders Thursday for the facility’s grand opening and to see the array containing 17,280 solar panels that spans 19 acres on the roof of the four-story building. The solar-powered system, with a capacity to generate 6.05 megawatts of solar power, is expected to begin producing solar electricity in November.

In 2017, Amazon announced its goal of installing rooftop solar-powered systems at 50 fulfillment centers by 2020. Amazon said in a statement that it realized the goal in July, 18 months early, with the completion of its 50th project for total of 98 megawatts of capacity of solar panels. Thirty-two solar-powered systems are in the U.S.; 12 are in the European Union; and seven are in India.

“Amazon is excited to be a part of the Thornton community and proud of our new fulfillment center, which is equipped with energy efficient technologies,” Joe Dudek, Amazon general manager, said in a news release. “This building features LED lighting, advanced building management systems, variable frequency drive equipped motors, high efficiency heating and cooling systems, and remote energy and power monitoring.”

More than 1,500 solar energy employees work alongside Amazon robotics at the Thornton center to pick, pack and ship smaller customer items, such as books, toys and kitchenware.

Amazon said it has invested more than $1.5 billion in Colorado since 2017 through its customer fulfillment infrastructure and compensation to its teams.

Want to see how a solar system will look on your rooftop? Use HaHaSmart design DIY tool and then use the price checker tool to see how much you can save by switching to solar.