April 8, 2021 Solar panels at Shoprite’s Basson distribution centre. THE Shoprite Group now generates enough electricity to power over 1 100 households – 12 300 MWh of electricity – a year from solar energy, following the installation of rooftop PV (photovoltaic) panels at 19 sites in South Africa and Namibia. The Group has also fitted 649 solar panels to the roofs of its refrigerated trucks, which generate 760 MWh annually – enough power to run 1 040 refrigerators for a full year. These allow drivers to switch off truck ignitions at delivery locations, reducing noise and exhaust pollution, while keeping the cold chain intact. There are now 18 stores throughout South Africa and Namibia in the Group that harness the power of the sun for their operations. These include Checkers Plettenberg Bay Mall, Sitari, Gordons Bay, Constantia, Hermanus and Whale Coast Mall and Shoprite Strand (Western Cape), Shoprite and Checkers Parys as well as Checkers Woodlands (Free State), Shoprite Rustenburg (North West), Shoprite Devland (Gauteng), Shoprite Kimberley and Kathu (Northern Cape) and Shoprite Oshakati, Otjiwarongo, Ongwediva and Tsumeb (Namibia).