Euclid Ave. array will generate sufficient power yearly to energy about 330 houses
CINCINNATI (September 5, 2024) – The two.8 MW photo voltaic array that Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Backyard and Melink Photo voltaic began constructing earlier this 12 months is now up and working! Along with offering shade for automobiles and buses within the Zoo’s Euclid Ave parking, it’s anticipated to generate sufficient power to energy about 330 houses yearly and can cut back carbon emissions by about 1,284 MTCO2e (metric tons of CO2 equal) per 12 months.
“We partnered with Melink Photo voltaic in 2011 to put in a 1.56 MW photo voltaic array over our Vine St. parking zone,” stated Mark Fisher, Cincinnati Zoo’s VP of amenities and sustainability. “This array is roughly the identical dimension however produces about twice the facility because of advances in photo voltaic panel expertise. With each arrays on-line, about 2/3 of the electrical energy for the whole campus is coming from our parking heaps.”
The win-win-wins proceed to multiply while you have a look at the monetary financial savings this photo voltaic funding represents. The Zoo will save about $300,000 on its electrical invoice subsequent 12 months alone.
“Sharing our success can be vital to us,” stated Fisher. “We’re displaying folks how it may be accomplished, they usually see that each time they drive by the Zoo or park right here, and in addition making it occur for some members of our neighborhood.”
Additional photo voltaic panels from the undertaking have been donated to the Zoo’s Group Photo voltaic Resiliency Program (CSRP) so the Zoo’s sustainability staff can proceed photo voltaic installations on neighborhood facilities, faculties, and church buildings in underserved areas of Cincinnati. The latest CSRP undertaking was put in at Lydia’s Home earlier this summer time, and one other for Horses on the Hill is deliberate for this fall.
“We love that the Zoo’s photo voltaic arrays are very seen to the neighborhood and that they’re sharing plenty of the photo voltaic love with communities in want as effectively,” stated Monica Niehaus, enterprise growth supervisor for Melink Photo voltaic.
The array undertaking is full, however the Zoo remains to be working with Melink Photo voltaic on a pilot program to recycle damaged panels. Each are invested within the full life cycle of photo voltaic panels, from begin to end.
Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Backyard opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m. each day. Go to CincinnatiZoo.org to plan a go to or to study extra concerning the Zoo’s dedication to sustainability.
