While the rest of the world is in an economic slump, Wal-mart keeps chugging along. It makes sense to me. When all else fails, which is the case these days, Wal-mart is still the cheapest place to buy anything … anything that the company sells.

Wal-Mart aims to buy the green power at prices equal to or less than traditional energy.

Wal-Mart aims to buy the green power at prices equal to or less than traditional energy.

Wal-mart is about to put some life into the renewable energy market. The company announced on Earth Day that it plans to double the size of its solar power initiative in the next 18 months. Some 10-20 stores in and distribution centers in California will get solar panels on their roof tops. Sam already has solar set ups on 18 stores in CA and HI.

Wal-mart will save the equivalent of enough energy for 2,600 homes or keeping 4,000 cars off the road each year. Until Sam sells those cars, I suppose. And Wal-mart won’t buy the solar setups outright, but will instead pay only for what it uses under a 10-year power purchase agreement. The stores that use solar power get 20-30% of its electricity from above.

“The pilot program led us to the point that we believe in solar,” says Kim Saylors-Laster, Wal-Mart’s vice president of energy.

And, that is good news for the renewable energy market.

I wonder what Wal-mart thinks about nuclear power?

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