The 14 kW system installed at the Reid Park Zoo Conservation Learning Center shows how the City of Tucson is leading by example and incorporating solar energy into new construction projects.

The Conservation Learning Center exemplifies healthy building concepts and energy conservation. Features include a solar electric system to provide green power for the building, highly efficient heating and cooling systems, recycled and sustainable construction materials and water harvesting. Classes held at the center will integrate these aspects of environmental awareness into the program curriculum.

Eighty-one 175 W solar panels were mounted in multiple rows on the roof with one row doubling as an awning over the entryway. The solar panels are among the many ways that the Conservation Learning Center at the Reid Park Zoo reflects the organization’s mission: “to encourage a commitment to the conservation of biological diversity,” in this case “by demonstrating the highest standards of sustainable building practices.”