Smart City San Diego and the San Diego Zoo have started construction on a solar photovoltaic canopy to charge electric vehicles (EVs) in the zoo's parking lot. Smart City San Diego is a collaboration involving San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), the City of San Diego, GE, UC San Diego and CleanTECH San Diego to promote clean energy in the city.
The project will be owned and managed by SDG&E's Sustainable Communities Program and incorporate 10 solar canopies producing 90 kW of electricity, as well as five EV charging stations. Using battery technology, a 100 kW energy storage system will be charged by the solar canopies and used to offset power demands on the grid to charge the vehicles.
