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Solar energy is taking over at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex – Florida Today


Solar energy is lighting up the way at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

With the addition of five solar trees, the visitor complex continues to expand its reach with solar energy.

Partnering with Florida Power & Light, the visitor complex is part of 14 other FPL SolarNow locations on the Space Coast, including Port Canaveral and Brevard Zoo.

“There are a lot of factors that played into our decision to partner with the Kennedy Space Visitor Complex on this project, but the most important one is our shared commitment to sustainability,” said Bart Gaetjens, FPL external affairs manager. 

Throughout the complex,  look for five solar trees comprised of 60 solar panels. 

“These solar arrays located across the visitor complex provide shade, generate clean emissions free energy that goes back to the grid where everyone benefits,” said Therrin Protze, chief operating officer of the visitor complex.

By harnessing the energy from the sun, which then gets dispatched to FPL’s grid, the energy generated from the solar trees helps power FPL customers.   

The solar trees look like blue trunks with two long blue “branches” that hold the solar panels in place.

“The whole idea around it is just to create a very unique design that’s going to catch the eye of someone walking by,” said FPL spokeswoman Devaney Iglesias.

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FPL hopes these solar trees will inspire  guests to learn more about sustainability, Iglesias said.

The solar trees aren’t the only solar installations currently at the visitor complex.

At the shuttle Atlantis exhibit, guests can check out a solar generator used to power  parking booths located far from the grid, according to Charlie Venuto, director of environmental health and safety at the visitor complex.

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Other plans with solar for the visitor complex, include:

• Adding solar panel covers to the will-call booths

• Installing solar panels with the bus boarding

These installations will likely begin in 2019. 

“As we go and build new facilities, solar has to be part of the solution,” Venuto said.

Other sustainability projects that are underway at the complex include:

• A piezoelectric pathway, a project with Georgia Tech University  that involves guests using kinetic energy by stepping on hexagon-shaped tiles that help generate electricity

• Electric tour buses running on batteries, with a goal to have them up and running by 2021

“I think we’re really facing a critical point in our future where we need to take action to reduce our carbon footprint, and solar is a great answer to that,” Venuto said. 

Contact Jaramillo at 321-242-3668

or antoniaj@floridatoday.com.

Twitter: @AntoniaJ_11

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