Animals are walking on sunshine as Bristol Zoo Gardens installs solar system - 07/12/11

Submitted by lucy on Wed, 2011-12-07 12:16

Many of the animal enclosures at Bristol Zoo Gardens will be heated using energy harnessed from the sun, as the Zoo has installed solar panels this month.

An area of roof roughly the size of a tennis court has been covered in solar panels which will generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of all the pumps Staff from Bristol Zoo and Solarsense, with the Zoo's solar panelsand lighting in the Zoo’s aquarium more than three months each year.

Backwell company Solarsense provided and installed the 184-panel 46.92kW solar photovoltaic (PV) system, which is mounted on the roof of the zoo’s veterinary department and services building. 

Bristol Zoo head of estates Tim Wilson said: “We had to move quickly to install the panels to ensure the system was operational ahead of a December 12 cutoff date set by the Government, to achieve maximum financial benefit from the Feed in Tariff which pays us for the energy we generate.

“We chose Solarsense because the company has a strong track record of installing systems in high-profile historic sites, and also with large solar arrays such as the system they installed at Worthy Farm, home of the Glastonbury Festival.”

A key planning consideration of the installation was the visual impact of the panels and five different locations were considered before the roof of the vet and services building was chosen.

Special German all-black solar panels were used, and the roof modified to ensure a discrete and non-intrusive solution. The zoo has calculated that the system will pay for itself within seven years.

"These panels are more expensive than their budget equivalents but we are delighted with the result," said Tim Wilson.

"We are very keen to promote the use of renewable energy at Bristol Zoo wherever possible," he added.  "We use a lot of electricity to light the indoor enclosures, operate the pumps in the aquarium and to keep dozens of heat lamps for the reptiles, for instance.  We cannot turn down the thermostat to save energy, but we can be as sustainable as possible and the new system will achieve that.

"It makes environmental sense and it makes financial sense – it is a success story all round."

In addition Bristol Zoo has also recently installed a biomass boiler ready for the winter months, which will reduces the Zoo’s wood waste and its energy bills. The boiler burns waste offcuts of wood from the Zoo workshop as fuel as well as FSC certified, sustainable wood pellets. The boiler now heats all the water used in the Zoo’s veterinary surgery, offices, animal food preparation kitchen and maintenance workshop.

For more information about Bristol Zoo, visit the website at www.bristolzoo.org.uk or phone 0117 974 7300.

 

ENDS

 

For press enquiries please contact the Bristol Zoo Gardens press office:

Lucy King, T: 0117 974 7306, E: lking@bristolzoo.org.uk

Vanessa Hollier, T: 0117 974 7309, E: vhollier@bristolzoo.org.uk

 

Notes to editors:

Solarsense

  • Earlier this year Solarsense won the Renewable Energy Association’s Company of the Year Award. Established in 1994, the company has installed over 5,500 solar energy systems in the South West, and it has recently been estimated that Solarsense systems save its customers well over 10,000 tonnes of CO2 each year.
  • The company moved from Long Ashton into a rural office and warehouse complex at Helios House in Brockley Lane, Backwell last year.
  • Solarsense installations included a 200kWp solar photovoltaic array at Worthy Farm, home of the Glastonbury Festival, creating the largest privately-owned solar PV system in the UK at the time of installation.
  • The company has also delivered many of the region’s other flagship solar projects, including the award-winning solar thermal installation at Clifton Lido in Bristol and – within the past few months – the installation of solar power at the National Composites Centre, Bristol, and Bath University. Solarsense finished its most successful year ever by being chosen as installers of a 100kWp PV system by the Duchy of Cornwall. Solarsense has now installed over 260kWp of solar power at various Duchy of Cornwall sites in the South West. 
  • It also completed an installation at the UK’s first zero-carbon primary school, Montgomery Primary School in Exeter, which was shortlisted for the Regen SW 2011 Green Energy Award for Best Renewable Energy Scheme.

Notes to editors

  • Bristol Zoo is open from 9am every day except Christmas Day. 
  • Bristol Zoo Gardens is a conservation and education charity and relies on income from visitors and supporters to continue its important work. 
  • This year Bristol Zoo celebrates its 175th anniversary and wants to do more than celebrate. Over that past 175 years, the Zoo has brought six generations of Bristolians closer to wildlife, helped save over 175 species from extinction, established over 30 field conservation and research programmes   all over the world, showed 40 millionschool aged children the wonder of nature and given more than 90 million visitors a wonderful day out.
  • Throughout 2011 we will be focusing our efforts on raising funds and awareness in support of gorilla conservation.
  • Throughout 2011 Bristol Zoo will support theEuropean Association of Zoos and Aquaria Ape Campaign.The campaign aims to make a significant and lasting contribution to the continued survival of apes and their habitats, and is being  led by Dr Bryan Carroll, the Director of Bristol Zoo.
  • To find out more about the EAZA Ape Campaign visit the Zoo website at www.bristolzoo.org.uk/conservation-campaigns.
  • Bristol Zoo is involved with more than 100 co-ordinated breeding programmes for threatened wildlife species. 
  • Itemploys over 150 full and part-time staff to care for the animals and run a successful visitor attraction to support its conservation and education work. 
  • Bristol Zoo supports – through finance and skill sharing - 15 projects in the UK and abroad that conserveand protectsome of the world’s most endangered species.
  • In 2010 Bristol Zoo Gardens set up a Conservation Fund to raise vital funds to help care for threatened animals and plants – both in the Zoo and through the conservation work we do in the UK and around the world.
  • Bristol Zoo Gardens is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums. BIAZA represents more than 90 member collections and promotes the values of good zoos and aquariums.