Retail giant Shoprite shifts to solar-powered trailers to keep food cool and fresh

South African giant retailer Shoprite Holdings has announced a groundbreaking move to ensure they play a huge role in relation to climate change and pollution. 

The country’s biggest chain store has announced that it has fitted solar PV systems on more than 1,000 of its trailers, using the sun to power refrigeration, tail lifts, and surveillance equipment. 

Recognised as the country’s biggest retailer, Shoprite is on a mission to power a quarter of its operations with renewable energy within the next five years. 

The company announced that it already has direct solar installations at more than 60 stores and distribution centres in Southern Africa and recently finalised sustainability-linked loans worth R3.5 billion for, among other things, the expansion of its renewable energy programme. 

In addition, the retail group announced that these solar panels are used to power refrigeration systems which would usually stay cool while the diesel engines were running. 

As per a report carried out by Business Insider SA, Shoprite Group Sustainability Manager Sanjeev Raghubir said their fleets of trucks have surveillance chich will make it easy to trace them. 

“The trucks have quite an elaborate surveillance and security system so that we can monitor where they are [and] when the doors are open, there are cameras that monitor all of that,” Raghubir told the publication. 

“The solar panels [also] allow us to switch off the truck so that you don’t have to burn diesel to keep the refrigeration unit going, and, also, you can park the trailer off, you can decouple it from the truck, and you can leave it in a certain spot, and the trailer will still keep the produce in there cool.” 

Despite shifting to solar power for its trailers, the company’s transition to fully electric trucks is still something that’s a long way off according to the sustainability manager. 

“With electric vehicles and electric trucks, with the bulk of our electricity from the national grid being fossil fuel-based, it really doesn’t make much sense that you are then still using that electricity for your electric vehicles. So, it’s not really making an impact in terms of reducing your carbon footprint,” he explained. 

Shoprite has, however, installed electric vehicle charging stations for customers at two of its supermarkets that are powered by rooftop solar installations. 

Main Image: Shoprite Trucks/Shoprite Holdings