MGM Resorts Beats Toys ‘R’ Us With Biggest Rooftop Solar System

MGM Resorts International surpassed Toys “R” Us Inc. with the largest U.S. rooftop solar installation, an 8.3-megawatt system completed this week.

With an expansion that included more than 26,000 panels covering 28 acres atop the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, MGM broke the record that the toy seller had heldsince 2011 with a 6.2 megawatt system at a distribution center in Flanders, New Jersey, according to GTM Research. That’s enough energy to power 1,000 average-sized homes for a year. 

The project was a partnership between MGM and New Jersey-based NRG Energy, which financed, built and now owns and operates the array. Through a power purchase agreement (PPA), Mandalay Bay will buy the energy generated by the solar array. For MGM, the business and environmental benefits are substantial because the project will provide approximately 25 percent of Mandalay Bay’s electricity needs.

With its ongoing water struggles, the vast amounts of energy and resources going toward recreating cities such as Paris and Venice, and its bawdy reputation as a party town, sustainability is the last topic that comes to mind when thinking about Las Vegas. But Sin City is drenched in sun, and the ample roof space throughout the city offers the local hospitality sector opportunities to reduce costs via solar power and demonstrate it can be a more responsible industry. To that end, MGM Resorts International announced last week it has completed the installation of what it’s calling the world’s largest rooftop solar array on a convention center.

Covering 20 acres on the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino’s 1.7 million square feet of convention space, over 21,000 solar panels will provide 6.4 megawatts of clean energy to the complex. MGM says the energy generated from the rooftop array is enough to power 1,000 American homes while displacing about 6,300 metric tons of carbon dioxide. The array will also help lower demand on southern Nevada’s electricity grid during the hot summer days.

Sources: MGM Resorts International, NRG Energy, Bloomberg.