The Giant supermarket at Lancaster Shopping Center not only has gotten bigger.
It has gotten greener, too.
Giant flipped the switch Feb. 2 on a solar photovoltaic system there costing more than $1 million.
The rooftop system, with 1,111 solar panels, is expected to generate 373,992 kilowatt-hours of electricity, or 13 percent of the store's annual electricity requirements.
The Lititz Pike store's system and a system at a Pottstown store are the first at Giant's 181 supermarkets in four states.
Giant said the solar panels further reduce energy consumption at the remodeled and expanded store, which reopened in October 2010.
Carlisle-based Giant installed a number of energy-saving features in the 75,000-square-foot location, including skylights and LED lighting.
The real-time output of the solar panels is displayed on in-store monitors viewable by customers.
Giant has nine supermarkets in Lancaster, plus its only two Giant To Go convenience stores.
Giant also announced it gave a record $20.6 million in charitable donations last year through its "Living Here, Giving Here" campaign.
That total included $69,460 in corporate and employee donations to the United Way of Lancaster County.
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