For maxim efficiency, solar farms are designed to align the panels in rows and column. The idea is that forming a grid will increase the arrays.
But who says it has to be just a grid? One of China’s largest clean energy operators is building a 248-acre solar farm and is aligning its panels to form the shape of a panda that can be seen from the air.
On June 30th, the first phase was completed and power is being delivered to a grid in northwestern China. This panda will breed. Another panda is planned for later this year.
The Panda Power Plant will be able to produce 3.2 billion kilowatt-hours of solar energy in 25 years, according to the company. More solar energy means less coal. The company claims that the energy sent to the grid will remove a million tons of coal that would have been needed to power that electricity. The company says that its solar power will reduce carbon emissions by 2.74 million tons.
China Merchants New Energy Group worked with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to make the Panda Power Plant a reality. The project is part of a larger effort to raise awareness among young people in China about clean energy, the UNDP wrote in a statement.
The groups hope to build more panda-shaped solar plants throughout China in the next five years.
