The Museum of Flight, Seattle, WA, has announced that work will begin Oct. 5 on a major solar energy project that will place 1,863 solar panels atop the museum’s nine-story Aviation Pavilion, a move expected to significantly reduce the institution’s environmental footprint. The installation will begin with large cranes lifting the solar panels onto the roof of the 3-acre Aviation Pavilion between Oct. 5 and Oct. 7. Museum officials expect Oct. 6 to be the busiest day of the operation. Once the panels are staged on the roof, crews will spend approximately two months installing the arrays and integrating them into the museum’s electrical system. When completed, the solar array is projected to provide 100 percent of the annual energy needs for the museum’s existing West Campus. Any excess electricity generated by the system will be returned to the public power grid.
“This project ensures that future generations will experience the wonder of flight in a facility that reflects responsible stewardship of our planet,” said Matt Hayes, President and CEO of The Museum of Flight. The project is being installed on the roof of the museum’s 140,000-square-foot Aviation Pavilion, which houses a large collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft. The solar initiative received a $1,237,323 award from the Washington State Department of Commerce, funded through the state’s Climate Commitment Act. The grant covers roughly one-third of the project’s total cost of $4.02 million. According to the museum, the solar installation is expected to reduce energy consumption and operating costs while supporting long-term sustainability goals.
The Museum of Flight’s Aviation Pavilion, one of the largest free-span aircraft display structures in the United States, serves as home to dozens of historically significant aircraft, making the rooftop solar project one of the most visible infrastructure improvements undertaken by the Seattle museum in recent years. Media representatives interested in covering the crane operation are invited to attend the Oct. 5-7 installation activities, with Oct. 6 expected to offer the most active lifting operations. For more information and to support The Museum of Flight, click on this link: www.museumofflight.org.
