Recreational Equipment Inc., better know to travel-consumers as REI, is taking steps to make its establishments environmentally friendly.

Recreational Equipment Inc., better know to travel-consumers as REI, is taking steps to make its establishments environmentally friendly. For 2008, the company plans to retrofit over 10% of its stores with solar electric technology. This push for solar energy represents one of the largest solar investments for a specialty retailer in the US.

The company has paired up with Blue Oak Energy, the same group that worked similar initiatives with Google and Whole Foods, to select 11 stores to utilize photovoltaic solar panels, which can generate up to 35% of the stores’ energy needs. The solar investment will generate an estimated 1.1 million kilowatt hours of electricity. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, that’s enough electricity to power 117 homes for one year and it saves approximately 880 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

So which buildings are going green? California, Texas and Oregon are all states that will see some of their REI stores being solar powered. In California, the seven cities include Arcadia, Folsom, Sacramento, San Carlos, San Diego, San Francisco and Santa Rosa. The four other stores to welcome solar power include three in Oregon — Clackamas, Hillsboro and Tualatin — as well as the co-op’s second prototype store in Round Rock, Texas.

The stores selected are in: California: Arcadia, Folsom, Sacramento, San Carlos, San Diego, San Francisco and Santa Rosa; Oregon: Clackamas, Hillsboro and Tualatin; and Texas: Round Rock.