America's largest publicly accessible solar installation

Cincinnati Zoo

Cincinnati, OH
Parking lot canopy installation

Completed 4/20/11
Installed by Melink
View video

System details:

• 1.6 MW
• 6,400 solar panels
• 245 W mono Sunmodule™ solar panel

System overview:

• The greenest Zoo in America
• The solar canopies provide shade for nearly 800 of the 1,000 spots available at the Zoo’s main entrance.
• The solar panels will provide approximately 20% of the Zoo’s energy needs. That’s enough to:
  • power 200 homes each year
  • power 55,000 energy efficient CFL bulbs for a year
  • power your Wii for 95 million hours
    

Customer testimonial:
"We believe that the combination of size and public accessibility, makes this solar array the most impactful array of any in the entire country," said Mark Fisher, Senior Director of Facilities, Planning, and Sustainability at the Cincinnati Zoo. "No where 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."

"As the greenest Zoo in America, there is no better place to showcase this technology and to help the public understand that not only is this technology the right thing to do for our energy future, but it makes absolute financial sense as well," said Thane Maynard, Executive Director of the Cincinnati Zoo.