ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Grocery Group has opened the ZOOM Gulf gas station and C-Store — a business almost entirely powered by solar energy.

Another first for the St. Louis area, with the support of Ameren electric, ZOOM’s unconventional-looking canopy over its gas pumps supports a state-of-the-art, two-way solar panel system capable of producing 109,000 kWh of electricity annually — enough to power most of the gas station, convenience store and car wash.

Manufactured by Prism Solar Technologies, the glass-on-glass solar panels are capable of generating 35 percent more energy per watt than traditional modules through its use of advanced bifacial N-type silicon cell technology that can generate electricity on both its front and back surfaces. The panels also offer exceptional performance in low light conditions due to the additional energy produced by its back surface, which allows ZOOM to maximize its solar investment.

ZOOM’s high-tech solar panel system is expected to produce energy equivalent to 216,208 lifetime gallons of gasoline not consumed, 2,014 new trees planted each year, 722 lifetime tons of recycled waste and a lifetime of 438 cars taken off the road.

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