Suntech solar modules are installed in the largest natural habitat zoo in America.
North Carolina is situated along the Atlantic coast in southeast USA.
In 2008, 612 pieces of Suntech solar modules were installed in the approximately 2,000-acre North Carolina Zoo, which accommodated over 250 animal species from Africa and North America, making it the world’s largest pedestrian zoo and the largest natural habitat zoo in the USA. The zoo has won nationwide recognition as one of the best zoos of the country, due to its commitment to the concept of “Natural Habitat”.
Ecological Sustainability
The Suntech solar system within the zoo, renowned for its commitment to sustainable development, serves as a project that saves approximately 130MW of electricity each year. This has slashed the carbon footprint of North Carolina and mitigated the risk of future energy price hikes for the local region.
Richard Harkrader from Carolina Solar Energy remarked that he believed that the consumer demand for green energy would quickly outstrip the current electricity supply, that the project would undoubtedly offer great benefits to the future energy development of North Carolina and the country at large, and that facts had proven the feasibility of large-scale installation of photovoltaic systems in North Carolina.
Photovoltaic modules have become a landscape in North Carolina Zoo.
Boasting the then-largest photovoltaic project in the state, North Carolina Zoo receives more than 750,000 tourists annually.
The 104KW Suntech solar modules have been consolidated to the large picnic area in the zoo, as a result of which the area has later been dubbed the “Solar Node”. Apart from providing the zoo with sustainable energy and sheltering from the sun, the Suntech solar project offers a chance for the public to know more about solar power. Within the hall, an interaction zone has been designated to demonstrate how modules generate and supply electricity to the zoo. In addition, North Carolina Zoo releases real-time data at its website to indicate the amounts of energy saved and pollutant emissions reduced by Suntech solar modules.
At North Carolina Zoo, we have witnessed the possibility of a perfect integration between photovoltaic system and ecology. Suntech offers the energy development of North Carolina more sustainable solutions, based on which classic cases and infinite room of imagination are there for the integrated development of energy and ecology.