Panda Power

These bears are full of energy. Using dark and light solar cells to create a shading effect, the aptly named Panda Green Energy opened a 50-megawatt (MW), CNY350 million solar power plant in Datong, China in June to resemble, well, a giant panda. It's Panda Green Energy's first of 100 proposed panda-shaped solar panel projects to be built mostly in Asia in the next five years. A single panda power plant can generate 3.2 million MW-hours of power over 25 years—the equivalent of reducing 2.7 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Beyond sustainability, the goal, at least in part, is to interest younger generations in renewable energy.