SolarWorld solar panels form huge parking canopy, providing electricity and shelter at Cincinnati Zoo

Zoo’s 1.56-megawatt system is considered largest publicly accessible urban array

HILLSBORO, Ore., May 9, 2011 – Families visiting a most mainstream community, educational and recreational center in America’s heartland, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, are enjoying protection from the weather elements from beneath parking-lot canopy systems composed of 6,400 high-performance solar panels made by SolarWorld, the largest U.S. manufacturer of solar technology for more than 35 years.

The 1.56-megawatt system, considered the largest publicly accessible solar array in an urban setting, provides a prominent example of a parking-lot canopy solar system far to the east of California, where such applications are more common. Canopy systems tap unobstructed air space to generate clean power from the sun while providing shelter from all types of weather. This spring, the company is completing a 30-kilowatt canopy system for its visitor parking lot in front of its recently expanded and modernized U.S. headquarters building in Hillsboro, Ore.

The zoo project marks the arrival of not only solar canopies but also large-scale solar at a core community gathering place in Cincinnati, where elected and zoo officials were scheduled today to dedicate the system.

“It’s gratifying – and fun – to see the technology that SolarWorld pioneered for so long using American labor on U.S. soil star in this Midwest showcase,” said Raju Yenamandra, vice president for sales and business development in the Americas and an employee of SolarWorld’s plant in Camarillo since 1980. “When I started my career, solar was a novel but promising power-generation alternative to fossil fuels. Since then, our technology has built a long track record of reliability. Now, this project signifies its arrival at center stage of American life.”

The system of 15 arrays at the Cincinnati Zoo, developed, engineered and installed by Melink Corp., covers 800 of the 1,000 parking spaces in the zoo’s main parking lot. Combined, the arrays covering four acres are expected to provide about 20 percent of the zoo’s power needs while saving millions of dollars over coming years. Melink, itself based in Milford, Ohio, used not only U.S.-made solar technology and American installation labor but also metal canopy structures fabricated in Ohio for a project almost entirely sourced domestically.

“SolarWorld was an excellent fit for the Cincinnati Zoo project,” said David Boezi, Vice President of Operations for Melink. “The company’s fully vertically integrated American manufacturing and its technology’s strong technical performance in independent testing were key decision points for us.  The solar canopy at the Cincinnati Zoo was a significant investment for Melink, and we wanted a solar panel that was well-proven and guaranteed to produce as promised.”

For more information about solar canopies, go to SolarWorld’s blog.

About SolarWorld (www.solarworld-usa.com)

SolarWorld (ISIN: DE0005108401) is a worldwide leader in offering brand-name, high-quality, crystalline silicon solar-power technology. The company’s strength is its fully integrated solar production. From silicon as the raw material through wafers, cells and panels all the way to turn-key solar systems of all sizes, the group combines all stages of the solar value chain. The central business activity is selling high-quality panels into the installation and distribution trades and wafers to the international solar cell industry. Group headquarters are located in Bonn, Germany, with sales sites in Singapore, South Africa, Spain, France as well as in the U.S. state of California. The group’s largest production facilities operate in Freiberg, Germany, and Hillsboro in the U.S. state of Oregon. Sustainability is the basis of the group strategy. Under the name Solar2World, the group supports community aid projects using off-grid solar-power solutions in developing countries, exemplifying sustainable economic development. Worldwide, SolarWorld employs about 3,300 people. SolarWorld AG has been quoted on the stock exchange since 1999 and today is listed on, among others, the TecDAX and ÖkoDAX as well as in the sustainability index NAI.

Media Contact:

Devon Cichoski
Media relations manager
SolarWorld Americas
4650 Adohr Lane
Camarillo, CA 93012
Mobile: 805-377-2905
Office: 805-388-6388
devon.cichoski(at)solarworld-usa.com