With their expansive roof areas, sports stadiums are ideal locations for solar panel arrays. Given the huge amount of electricity needed to power lights, scoreboards, concession stands and more, it only makes sense to set up a solar stadium. Last year, the first Major League Baseball stadium was fitted with solar panels! To date, AT&T Park remains the only sports stadium in the United States to be solar-powered. Surely something should be done about that soon!
AT&T Park in San Francisco, the home of the Giants, partnered with PG&E to have install 590 Sharp solar panels on its stadium facilities. The work was completed and dedicated in June 2007. Since San Francisco is only a 6 hour drive from my Oregon home and is filled with rich experiences for any tourist – particularly my school-aged kids, it is on our list of places to visit this spring. I will definitely be on the lookout for solar panels, as well as home run game balls.
The Giants’ solar stadium receives a great deal of exposure given the three areas of the park on which the panels were installed: the roof of the Giants’ building, the Port Walk, and the canopy over the Willie Mays pedestrian ramp. In particular, the Port Walk panels are highly visible to passers-by.
Approximately 120 kilowatts are generated by the solar panels, more than enough to power the new Diamond Vision scoreboard during baseball season! This is the equivalent of the amount of energy generated by solar panels on 40 homes. The solar stadium’s system is connected to the San Francisco grid, helping to provide clean, green energy to Northern and Central California residents and businesses. Gavin Newsom, Mayor of San Francisco City and County, stated:
“Reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and protecting our environment requires bold leadership and vision. We applaud the Giants and PG&E for their commitment to solar energy and for their long-term focus on helping to make San Francisco the greenest city in the nation.”
In fact, the solar panels on AT&T Park are just one of the recent efforts that San Francisco has made in going green:
A home run for solar power
Perhaps due in part to the solar panels on its roofs, AT&T Park was named as the 2008 Sports Facility of the Year. The home of the Giants is more than just a solar stadium. The team, along with PG&E, launched a public awareness campaign to encourage fans to use energy more efficiently. Since the Park was originally constructed in 2000, it has been a leader in the field (so to speak) with respect to energy management. Like many other sports facilities in the country, AT&T Park is used throughout the year for concerts, corporate events and soccer games, in addition to MLB games.
Want to know how much energy is being generated by the Giants’ solar stadium right now? Click on this link to get up-to-the-minute updates! Either that, or stay tuned for a few more months when I visit and post about the experience!
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