Houston Zoo
Houston Zoo going Solar with SolarDrive Solar Powered Vehicles
In 2010, the NRG and Reliant team joined with Houston Zoo’s facilities staff to retrofit one of the Zoo’s four-seater electric golf carts to solar power, making it the Zoo’s first Solar Powered Electric Vehicles.
Management and maintenance staff agrees – Solar Power is the way to travel at the Houston Zoo.
Due to the modular concept of the SolarDrive S2E roof Houston Zoo gets maximum flexibility in fitting the modules they have acquired. The first four carts chosen were an E-Z-GO Shuttle six-seater, a Club Car Villager eight-seater, an E-Z-GO ST, and a Carry All 6 maintenance vehicle. The SolarDrive S2E roofs were 200-, 300- and 400-Watt versions. Houston Zoo later expanded the solar fleet. The two-year conversion program for the Houston Zoo’s electric vehicle fleet to Solar Power assisted cars was supported by a joint donation by NRG & Reliant.
Use of the SolarDrive S2E at the Houston Zoo shows the Zoo’s commitment for community leadership in the use of alternative sources of energy in its daily operations.
After some years of service, however, it was decided for safety reasons to remove the cars from the public areas, as the pathways were considered too narrow for both pedestrians and cars at the same time.