Why is corporate America picking wind power over solar?

Google, Microsoft, Dow Chemical and other big companies are buying five times more wind than solar electricity in the race to hit ambitious emissions targets

Businesses are buying more wind and solar electricity than ever before to help lower their carbon footprint in offices, stores and factories. But the two sources of renewable energy are far from getting equal love from corporate America.

Wind energy has long been the favorite. Businesses, not counting power companies, signed 2,000 megawatts of it in 2015, a jump from 100 megawatts in 2009, according to the American Wind Energy Association. Wind energy is enabling Google, the largest corporate buyer of renewable electricity in the world, to hit the 100% renewable energy goal, which it expects to achieve next year. The company has inked 2,548 megawatts of wind contracts and 141 megawatts of solar.