Solar power for Florida cart fleet

30 August 2011

Citrus Hills Golf & Country Club in Central Florida has become the first course in the US to install solar panels on its entire golf cart fleet.

Gulf City Solar, based in Bonita Springs, Florida, has installed its thinfilm solar panels and power management systems on the club’s fleet of 125 E-Z-GO carts. The carts are now only charged once a week; solar energy provides enough power to run the carts for daily use.

“Ours is the most efficient solar power kit in the market,” said William Heckenstaller, the brain behind Gulf City Solar’s technology. “Solar is now a mature technology for golf carts and other slow-moving electrical vehicles. We are in the process of rolling out solar-powered electrical utility vehicles with extra solar panels that enable them to go much farther than 60 miles on a charge. They can be equipped with 12-volt chargers that can run power tools on the golf course.”