Solar power energy got a publicity coup this week when Rockefeller Center announced it will light up its 2007 Christmas tree with solar power (photovoltaic) panels placed at the center’s rooftop.
According to the AM New York website, “the electricity for the lights will be generated by 363 solar panels recently installed on the roof of 45 Rockefeller Plaza on West 50th Street, just across from the massive tree.
” ‘We have here the largest private solar roof in Manhattan,’ said Jerry I. Speyer, chairman of Tishman Speyer, co-owner of Rockefeller Center, in a statement yesterday. ‘[The solar roof] will help conserve energy, eliminate carbon dioxide, and power the 30,000 LED lights on our iconic Christmas tree’.”
The Center has a dedicated website for the tree, which will be lit up on 28 November and is a major event in the New York Christmas calendar.
We at Energy Refuge applaud the initiative as it can potentially highlight the benefits of solar energy to a wider audience and add a touch of glitz into the bargain…
