Superintendent Jock Whitworth has announced that Zion National Park recently installed solar photovoltaic systems at the park’s South and East Entrance Stations. The two kilowatt systems provide 50 percent of the power required to run the entrance stations and are tied directly to the electrical grid to avoid the need for storage batteries.
The park also received American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds in 2009 to install solar photovoltaic systems at the administration building and Kolob Canyons Visitor Center, and to install additional solar arrays at the Emergency Operations Center. When completed, these projects will generate an additional 85 kilowatts of electricity for park facilities. According to Superintendent Whitworth, “To continue our legacy of sustainability at Zion National Park, we are taking advantage of our ideal solar location to utilize even more renewable energy for park facilities."
The park’s two environmental award winning facilities, the Zion Canyon Visitor Center and the Emergency Operations Center, utilize solar photovoltaic systems to produce part of their power needs. The visitor center utilizes 74 percent less energy than a conventional building of its size and the Emergency Operations Center uses 70 percent less energy.
For more information on the solar photovoltaic systems, contact Jim Lutterman at (435) 772-7819.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
