San Francisco ballpark gets solar power system

[Shallah Kali]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070320/us_nm/solarpower_baseball_dc

California utility Pacific Gas & Electric Co. will install a solar energy system at the San Francisco Giants' AT&T Park, believed to be the first solar power plant at a major league baseball park.

The utility, a unit of San Francisco-based PG&E Corp., will place 590 solar panels at the park to produce 123 kilowatts of electricity, enough energy to light up a new scoreboard or power about 25 homes, PG&E said on Tuesday.

{snip}

Solar electricity is in use at some minor league baseball parks in the United States and at soccer stadiums in Europe and Asia.

The Nuremberg soccer stadium in Germany installed a solar photovoltaic system ahead of the 2006 World Cup to supply electricity to the local grid, and Switzerland's new Stade de Suisse in Bern has a big solar installation on its roof.

Wow. I had no idea scoreboards at sports arenas used so much energy! It would take a lot more panels for them to totally equal their energy use though I suppose the days the lights aren't used might make up for it...

[eppur_se_muova]

1. What better place for solar than a stadium roof?

Stadiums sit mostly empty and idle much of the time, and the roofs cover huge areas.

[Shallah Kali]

2. I agree. Lots of wasted space that could be put to excellent use

I hope more arenas do this very soon.