April 25, 2016 - Construction workers Antonio Trejo (left) and Francisco Guillen guide a massive section of the iconic blue siding into place at the site of the IKEA store under construction near Interstate 40 and Germantown Road. The $64 million, 271,000-square-foot store on 35 acres is on schedule to be completed this fall. (Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal)

By Tom Charlier of The Commercial Appeal

The IKEA store under construction in Cordova will be powered by Tennessee's largest rooftop solar energy array, the Swedish home-furnishings retailer announced Thursday.

Atlanta-based Hannah Solar will begin installing 4,424 photovoltaic panels atop the roof this summer, with completion expected well before the store's scheduled opening in late fall. No cost estimate was provided for the project.

Covering 250,675 square feet, the solar array will generate 2 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually for the store, IKEA said. The clean energy production will replace the estimated 1,406 tons of carbon dioxide — a greenhouse gas associated with climate change — that would be released through the generation of a similar amount of power through conventional means.

IKEA, which is pursuing a goal of being energy independent by 2020, has solar panels atop 90 percent of its U.S. locations generating a total of 40 megawatts of power. It also owns 104 wind turbines nationwide.

"We are excited about furthering our sustainability commitment with solar panels on the future Memphis store," Lars Petersson, IKEA U.S. president, said in a prepared statement. "At IKEA, we have a mission to create a better everyday life for the many, and IKEA Memphis can add to this goal with Tennessee's largest rooftop solar array."

The Memphis IKEA store is being built on 35 acres on the southwest quadrant of the Interstate 40-Germantown Parkway interchange.

The announcement of IKEA's rooftop array comes less than a month after officials outlined plans for Tennessee's largest overall solar project — a $100 million facility featuring 580,000 panels to be built on a 400-acre site in Millington.