Maybe it seems like we cover IKEA too much at Clean Energy Authority, but to our knowledge there’s no other retailer in the U.S. that has made such a commitment to going solar.

And last week, the company announced that nearly 85 percent of its locations in the U.S. are going solar.

Just this past December that number was 75 percent of its U.S. locations, which include office warehouse buildings. At that point, 33 of its 44 buildings were going to have photovoltaics on their rooftops. Now that number grows by five more stores to 38. The company will install solar at both its Chicagoland locations as well as its Bloomington, Minn.; Canton, Mich.; and its Pittsburgh store.

The new announcements will add a total of 4.8 more megawatts of rooftop generation to IKEA’s rooftops. Once completed, the company will have 31.6 megawatts of solar on its rooftops in the U.S.

Almost all of the installations thus far announced should be completed by late summer 2012, according to IKEA spokesperson Joseph Roth. A couple might come online a bit later.

“One store in Texas we’re expanding and redoing the roof,” said Roth.

Otherwise everything should be online this summer.

“It typically takes about six months in an average world,” Roth said. “The only thing that could really hold it up is the weather at this point.”

IKEA has contracted with the same installers to do most systems, like REC Solar, which will handle the Pittsburgh installation. But it’s the first time it’s using SoCore Energy’s services, according to Roth. That company will install solar on stores in Chicago, Michigan and Minnesota.

“They clearly have strong expertise in the Midwest,” said Roth, “which allows them access to a good pool of contractors, installers, etc.”

All installations in the U.S. are currently on IKEA rooftops, though the company has considered installing solar carports.

“For the time being, we’ve decided not to do it,” Roth said. “We prefer to conserve our land for future considerations like store expansion. And all our solar installations are happening within a pretty short period of time. We should probably get used to that before operating other types of installations.”

Clean Energy Authority may be covering IKEA again soon, too.

“We continue to evaluate the remaining locations,” Roth said.

So far, the company only ruled out one store in Southern California, which was built in a former department store and wasn’t suited for solar.