The town of Tenna, Switzerland (population 110) has built the worlds first solar-powered ski lift. Above the lift, 82 solar “wings” generate 90,000 kilowatt hours of energy a year. That is three times the amount of power required to run the towns modest T-bar. The project in Tenna was not cheap. All told the solar powered T-bar cost $1.5 million. However, the extra energy that is created from the solar “wings” will be sold off provide a steady income for the residents of Tenna.
But is it the first Solar-powered ski lift in the world? Alyssa Danigelis of Discovery News tells us that “Tenna claims to have the world’s first solar-powered ski lift, but I’m not sure whether that’s technically true. A resort in Westendorf, Austria, unveiled a solar-powered drag lift called “Sonnenlift” in 2008 that generates 12,000 kilowatt hours annually. In Colorado, the Steamboat ski resort says it has the only chairlift in the U.S. to be powered by solar energy.”
You can read more about Tenna’s solar-powered ski lift at grindtv.com