Swedish home furniture giant Ikea Group is cooperating with Chinese solar company Hanergy Holdings Group Co Ltd on a grid-connected solar power generation project for all of the Ikea stores in China as well as Ikea's selected suppliers.

The partnership will also expand to the global market. Starting this month, Hanergy will sell solar power generation equipment to Ikea's customers in the United Kingdom.

According to Ikea, the thin-film photovoltaic panels already installed on the rooftops of five Ikea stores in Beijing, Shenzhen, Dalian, Nanjing and Shenyang, once put into operation, will provide 10 to 15 percent of all the electricity needed to run the stores.