Work is now underway to install solar panels on the roof of the carousel pavilion at Woodland Park Zoo thanks to a $70,000 grant from Seattle City Light’s green power program. Work is now underway to install solar panels on the roof of the carousel pavilion at Woodland Park Zoo thanks to a $70,000 grant from Seattle City Light’s green power program, which is funded by voluntary contributions from customers in support of renewable energy education.
Watch the work here: Solar Panels for Zoo Carousel
Workers from Puget Sound Solar install the first panels. Photo by Ryan Hawk.
The solar panels are expected to produce 9,000 kilowatt-hours annually, enough to offset the electricity required to power the carousel, which completes an average 100,000 rides per year. The project also serves as a model for renewable energy options for local homeowners. The average Seattle home uses about 9,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity each year.
Another solar panel is added at the carousel. Photo by Ryan Hawk.
The solar carousel project is the third partnership for renewable energy between City Light and Woodland Park Zoo. City Light also supported solar panels in the Family Farm and the sustainable geothermal energy unit installed in the zoo’s award-winning penguin exhibit.