The Thinkery, the new Austin Children’s Museum, is turning to solar power to reduce their carbon footprint. The Thinkery recently teamed up with Austin-based Freedom Solar Power to install over 196 solar panels.
The 47 kilawatt rooftop array will harness the sun in order to power the new 40,000 square foot facility in the Mueller development.
Freedom Solar provided their latest financial leasing for non-profit customers, which allowed the Thinkery to go solar with no money down. The system is expected to generate over $6,000 in annual energy savings. Over the life of the system, the solar array will offset 1,296 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. This is the comparable to 485 tons of waste going to the landfill instead of being recycled, or the carbon dioxide emissions from 178 homes.
The partnership between the Thinkery and Freedom Solar Power helped the museum attain Silver LEED certification. The Thinkery also earned the certification by choosing a sustainable site to build on, building the facility with recycled materials, maintaining museum water efficiency, supporting alternative transportation, bicycle storage and other energy efficient initiatives.