ASHEBORO, N.C. -- The North Carolina Zoo flipped the switch on the largest solar project in the state. It's an idea that's been in the works since 2004. The two large solar panels sit at the back of the North America parking lot.

It was a big day for the students at Zoo School. Not only did the North Carolina Zoo unveil the largest solar project in the state, but they got a lesson in alternative energy.

“Solar energy is going to be the future, it has to be. I think this is an amazing start of what's to come,” said student Morgan Tedder.

For these students that means hands-on learning. “I can do real life science with students, hands-on problem based learning, students learn best that way, we all know that through research,” Heather Soja, a Zoo School teacher said, “This is just kind of a dream come true for us and it keeps getting better.”

The solar panels are projected to produce 130,000 kilowatt hours a year. That's enough power to keep the lights on in 11 to 13 different homes. Keeping track of what the panels produce is easy with an up-to-the minute readout available either online or onsite.

“You can actually see what is generating plus what does that mean. Because it's not always going to be generating 104 kilowatts, it varies, like right now it's doing about 44,” Mary Joan Pugh with the North Carolina Zoo said.

The solar panels are mounted on three picnic pavilions and eventually it will provide a unique covered catering space for 1200 people. “It being in such a great setting, it's just such a cool setting to be under a solar system and know that it's providing power to the North Carolina electric grid,” Pugh said.

She hopes that will keep the visitors at Solar Pointe thinking green long after they leave the zoo.