Kevin Graetz is a longtime technology investor who has held leadership and investment positions in a variety of startups, including Amyris and Quantum Fuel Systems. Companies for which Kevin Graetz has raised significant money include Bloom Energy, which is rooted in K. R. Sridhar’s work to design a NASA fuel cell that would take the electricity produced via solar panel and direct it toward air and fuel generation.
Though the NASA project ended in 2001, the core research continued, with a venture-financed focus on generating reliable and clean energy from any location worldwide. As reported in Green Tech Media, Bloom Energy’s efforts are integral to the overall mission of Home Depot, which has earned Energy Star recognition over the past six years and been honored by the Environmental Protection Agency through supply chain and water awards.
Beginning in 2014, the nationwide chain initiated a partnership with Bloom Energy that resulted in nearly 200 two-hundred-kilowatt fuel cell system projects being installed at Connecticut, New York, California, and Massachusetts retail locations. The 27 projects that were completed in 2018 also featured newly introduced battery storage capacities.
This sustained effort sets Home Depot comfortably on track to achieve its goal of 135 megawatts in offsite and onsite renewable capacity by 2020. With approximately 130 megawatts already in place, projections are that the goal will be attained as early as mid-2019. Renewables also figure prominently into Home Depot’s retail strategy, with $50 million in solar panel systems sold annually and wind turbines also available to consumers.
