In Tampa, a solar panel installation on a shade structure at the Lowry Park Zoo delivering about 15 kilowatts of energy probably hasn’t attracted attention from anyone but the elephants.

For some solar enthusiasts, that would be enough. Others want the news to go viral. This includes Tampa Electric, a TECO Energy company, which provided part of the funding for the $800,000 project, along with a grant from the Florida High Tech Corridor, whose mission is to attract and nurture high tech industries to the 23-county area from Alachua in the north to Sarasota in the south.

The solar energy is good for TECO, whose generation mix is 65 percent coal and 41 percent natural gas, and will also be beneficial if Florida ever manages to pass a renewable energy standard (something it failed to do last session).

The 15-kilowatt array produces enough energy to power the zoo’s Treetop Skyfari, a ride similar to the ski lifts found in more northern climes. The solar array also provides University of South Florida researchers and TECO an opportunity to learn more about solar energy and smart grid technologies; that is, the efficacy of connecting distributed solar to the regional grid.

The solar system will also feature an interactive learning center which zoo visitors can consult to learn more about the technology behind, and advantages of, solar energy.

Lowry Park is not the first American zoo to consider solar energy, though. That honor probably goes to the Cincinnati (Ohio) Zoo, where in 2006 Dovetail Solar & Wind installed 168 panels from Evergreen Solar, Inc. to create a 19.3-kilowatt solar photovoltaic array on the zoo’s Harold C. Schott Educational Center building. The solar array is estimated to prevent the 68,000 pounds of carbon dioxide (per year) which would otherwise be generated by the state’s largely coal-fired electricity generating plants.

In 2007, the North Carolina Zoological Park in Asheboro installed a 104-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system mounted on shade assemblies in the picnic pavilions that provides the dual advantages of clean, renewable energy for nearby Randolph Electric Cooperative and shade for zoo visitors.

In addition, the green credits earned from the installation, which is comprised of 612 Suntech high-efficiency 170-watt panels, are sold to NC Greenpower, an independent, nonprofit “green” energy trading firm administered by Advanced Energy under a 5-year contract.

And no discussion of solar energy at American zoos would be complete without mentioning the Green Mountain Energy solar installation at the Houston Zoo, on the rear wall of the lion house.

This 6.4-kilowatt array provides up to 38 percent of the power needed at the exhibit during peak hours, or 8,188 kilowatt-hours per year, while simultaneously offsetting 17,500 pounds of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to planting more than 1,000 trees or recycling 44,000 aluminum cans.