Big-box stores could power half of energy needs with solar, report says

America’s big-box retail and grocery stores could fulfill half of their own electricity needs and generate enough clean electricity to power more than 7.9 million U.S. homes if they covered their roofs with solar panels, a new report has found.

In addition to boosting the country’s solar energy output, such a transformation would cut greenhouse gas emissions in an amount equivalent to eliminating 11.3 million cars from the road, according to the report, published Thursday by a federation of state-based environmental advocacy organizations called Environment America.