Wawa Installing Solar Panels at New Jersey Stores

WAWA, Pa. — Wawa Inc. will partner with New Jersey-based SolareAmerica to install solar panels at 93 convenience stores across the state by the end of 2020.

On Sept. 10, the retailer flipped a symbolic switch at a solar farm that will supply all the necessary electricity to a nearby store in Pemberton, reported the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Panel installations are already complete at two stores' canopies. A second full solar farm is planned on land next to a Burlington Township store. Total installations will range from Bergen to Cumberland Counties, according to the report.

"The expansion of solar power to a total of 93 stores will make Wawa the second-largest retailer for kilowatts installed in New Jersey," said Brian Schaller, chief real estate and fuel officer for Wawa. "We will have the most solar locations of any fuel retailer of any corporation in New Jersey."

Company officials stated that Wawa is expanding its New Jersey presence in part because of its commitment to solar energy. Another factor is the federal tax credits of 30 percent for solar installations that will begin to expire at the end of 2019 through 2022.

Pennsylvania-based Wawa operates more than 840 c-stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C. Wawa ranks No. 15 on the 2019 Convenience Store News Top 100 list.