Ohio-based Rudolph/Libbe has started construction of a 2 MW solar array from which the Toledo Zoo will purchase enough power to supply approximately 30% of its electricity needs.
The contractor is designing and building the project on a 22-acre brownfield site in south Toledo. Rudolph/Libbe subsidiary GEM Inc. is performing the licensed electrical work.Â
The 28,000-module ground-mount solar array will incorporate Calyxo thin-film solar modules. Nextronex is providing inverters and combiner boxes for the distributed architecture solar array. Alex Products is supplying steel racks for the solar modules. All three companies are Ohio-based.
Rudolph/Libbe will supply the expected 2.6 MWh per year output from the project to the Toledo Zoo under a power purchase agreement. The project is scheduled to be operational in 2014.
‘This project is a great example of the public and private sectors working together to benefit the zoo and the community,’ says Jason Slattery, director of solar for Rudolph/Libbe. ‘We're taking a contaminated brownfield site, which is a negative financial burden for the city, and turning it a positive for the City of Toledo and the Toledo Zoo.’
