Cincinnati Zoo to build large new solar array, 'big plans' for 2024 - WKRC TV Cincinnati
Cincinnati Zoo to build large new solar array, 'big plans' for 2024
The Cincinnati Zoo has started construction on a 2.8-megawatt solar panel array that will go over its Euclid Avenue parking lot. When complete, the array, combined with the zoo's existing Vine Street parking lot array, will power two thirds of the zoo's electrical needs. (CINCINNATI ZOO AND BOTANICAL GARDENS)
CINCINNATI ( Cincinnati Business Courier) - The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens is covering its Euclid Avenue parking lot with a canopy of solar panels as it aims for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by next year.
Zoo officials broke ground Feb. 14 on the 2.8-megawatt solar array from Milford-based Melink Solar.
“We have big plans for solar in 2024,” Mark Fisher, vice president of facilities and sustainability, said in a news release.
The array will include a large battery storage system and microgrid to help manage peak demand and maintain essential operations during a hypothetical blackout.
When complete, according to a zoo spokesperson, it will be the largest publicly accessible urban solar array in the country, stealing the title from the zoo’s own array overtop its Vine Street parking lot.
Read the full story from the Cincinnati Business Courier.
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Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: solar
Declining costs and government encouragement have resulted in a rapid increase in solar energy production in the United States over the past 10 years, although solar’s share remains small: 1.6 percent of all electricity generation in 2018. That rapid growth is projected to continue.