The exotic animals and plants at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden will soon be vying for visitor attention with a new attraction – America’s largest publicly accessible urban solar panel array. The 1.64MW car park canopy will cost US$11 million and cater for up to 20% of the zoo’s energy requirements.
Senior director of planning and sustainability, Mark Fisher, believes the installation will also enhance the zoo’s position as a standard bearer for green energy in the U.S., “we believe that the combination of size and public accessibility, makes this solar array the most impactful array of any in the entire country”.
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The array is also set to save the zoo millions of dollars in electricity bills every year and raise public awareness of solar energy, according to Fisher. “Nowhere else has an array of this magnitude been placed in such an urban environment, allowing our visitors, and the general public at large, to be able to see first hand what solar photovoltaic energy is all about. The education potential of this advanced energy project is off the charts,” added Fisher.
Project developer Melink Corporation has already begun installing the system’s 6,400 panels, with the canopy scheduled to be supplying electricity by the start of April.
