Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, Communications Past the zoo’s LEED Gold-certified West Entrance and around the corner from the sustainably built Humboldt penguin exhibit, Woodland Park Zoo is rolling out yet another sun-soaking, solar project: the largest community solar project in Washington state. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo Through a partnership with Seattle City Light and Phinney Neighborhood Association (PNA), 60 new solar panels are currently being installed on the zoo’s Rain Forest Food Pavilion and behind-the-scenes Commissary building. Dubbed Community Solar on Phinney Ridge , the project includes placing a 16-kilowatt grid of solar panels on the zoo’s food pavilion—similar in appearance to the zoo’s solar-paneled Historic Carousel—and an additional 45-kilowatt system on the zoo’s animal food center. A hop, skip and jump from Woodland Park Zoo, PNA’s historic Phinney Center will also be boasting a new, energy efficient rooftop as part of the project. Together, th...

Posted by: Kerston Swartz, Public Affairs Woodland Park Zoo, the Phinney Neighborhood Association (PNA) and Seattle City Light are partnering on Community Solar on Phinney Ridge , a new community solar project going live summer 2014. The project will produce approximately 75 kilowatts of energy from solar panels installed on building roofs at the zoo and PNA, making it the largest community solar project in Washington state. The Rain Forest Food Pavilion will soon be decked out with solar panels. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. Enrollment has just begun for City Light customers to participate in Community Solar on Phinney Ridge . You can purchase energy from the solar-modules, and then receive annual credits for the amount of energy generated by your units. Customer investment will end in July 2020 when ownership of the solar panels is transferred to the zoo and PNA. A rendering of the zoo's commissary with a solar panel installation.  As part of the Commu...