9 replies to this topic

[Hayden]

 energy-nfl-stadiums-renewable-green-energy-2011-seahawks.jpg   76.25K   3 downloads

The city of Seattle has taken on a big alternative energy project. They're now using solar energy to power the house of their beloved football team.

The 3750 solar panels are made from thin-film photovoltaic material designed to capture sunlight in multiple ways. The panels will cover 2.5 acres and generate over 830,000 kWh of electricity. The technology was the signature achievement of California's Solyndra, which now is under scrutiny due to its bankruptcy and the $535 million in U.S. federal loan guarantees.

Thankfully the panels will not require direct sunlight, but can also capture energy via reflected and diffused sunlight as well.

I'd really love to see more cities adopt this.


Via: National Geographic

[melis1983]

Thank you for sharing.  I had no idea this was happening.  I wish more places would do this.  It is so exciting to hear a football team has taken on solar energy.  I hope that this idea is picked up by many more.

[BOF]

This is pretty cool news. That said, I'm really surprised the Arizona Cardinals didn't take advantage and do this when they built their stadium not too long considering how much sun they get down there in 'Zona. Would love to see the numbers on what they save using this technology.

[artistry]

This is great news, it is also good to see that something good come out of the Solyndra controversy.
This construction will certainly over time, be a huge saving for the team. Would be so neat, if other teams, building new stadiums, would consider investing in solar energy systems.

[Don]

Seems like there are a lot of companies and organizations going to this. I just heard not too long ago that there are a handful of air force bases in California and Arizona who are going to solar power cells mounted on the roofs. These will end up being used to charge the batteries of electric cars that are being themselves used to replace fleets of gas-powered vehicles.

There's a lot of talk about how electric cars don't really do much when it comes to saving resources- the steel and polymers that it takes to actually build the things, transportation costs and what not all add up. In addition, they're saying that the electricity from local power grids (which comes from atomic or coal power, usually,) don't help either. This is the first real stride forward in making these cars more environmentally friendly. If they can be used to power the lights and concessions at a football game, so much the better, if you ask me!

[neodoxa]

The panels power the stadium in its entirety?  That's amazing.  I would be interested in the specific power-saving statistics from this huge array of panels.

I'm sort of amazed that all it takes is just 2.5 acres worth of solar panels to power a huge stadium like that.

Neodoxa

[keywestkeely]

This gives me a great reason to root for the Seahawks!

Actually, I'm not surprised; Seattle has always been pretty progressive about these things, I've always thought.

Now if only other stadiums would get on the stick with this.  Are you listening, Jerry Jones????

[el canadiano]

Good work Seattle!

Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia did something similar, only with a mixture of Wind, Solar, and Natural Gas.

[Bababooey]

That's an awesome idea, more sports arenas should be embracing solar technology. The only problem I can see is, will there be enough sunlight? I live in the Pacific Northwest - pretty gray and rainy a lot of the year - will there be enough sun to fuel the panels?

[mariaandrea]

Bababooey, on 09 October 2011 - 09:56 PM, said:

That's an awesome idea, more sports arenas should be embracing solar technology. The only problem I can see is, will there be enough sunlight? I live in the Pacific Northwest - pretty gray and rainy a lot of the year - will there be enough sun to fuel the panels?

I thought about that too, since I live here and know how little sunlight we get sometimes, but it does say they capture diffused sunlight and the cloud cover is often pretty thin. Also, I assume they must have a way to store the energy created - banks of batteries? - and the stadium isn't like an office building that's kept at full power every day. There's lots of downtime in the demand for energy with a stadium.so perhaps what they collect is enough for the intermittent use.