SOLAR TODAY - January/February 2011

| solar deployment advances

california vineyard installs 1.134-MW Pv System

REC Solar has installed a 1.134-megawatt photovoltaic array at Castle Rock Vineyards in California’s Central
Valley. The array consists of 5,400 Kyocera KD210gX-LPU
210-watt modules manufactured in Tijuana, Mexico, with a
projected annual output of 1,761 megawatt-hours, to offset
69 percent of the vineyard’s energy use.

KyoceRa

Pro Leagues Target Solar for Stadiums
Los Angeles’ Staples Center, for
example, now meets 5 percent of
its energy needs with a solar array.
14 January/February 2011 SOLAR TODAY solartoday.org Copyright © 2011 by the American Solar Energy Society Inc. All rights reserved.
Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association,
the National Hockey League and
Major League Soccer in Septem-
ber delivered a letter encouraging
their teams and facilities to begin
using solar power as they continue
the effort to green North America’s
professional sports. The leagues
also distributed a comprehensive
solar development guide produced
on their behalf by the Natural
“Throughout U.S. history, profes-
sional sports leagues have stepped
up on behalf of our troops. They
have stepped up for civil rights.
our professional sports leagues. The
private sector does not have to wait
for government action in order for
them to address the urgent issue of
climate change.”
“The distribution of solar power
development guides by all profes-
sional sports leagues reflects a real
cultural shift in our thinking about
energy that is taking place through-
out the business community and the
nation at large,” said NRDC Senior
Scientist Allen Hershkowitz Ph.D.
NASCAR track. In July, the track
commissioned 40,000 photovoltaic
modules to provide 100 percent of
its power, plus electricity for 1,000
nearby homes. The array elimi-
nates the track’s
annual energy bill
of $250,000.
Resources Defense
Council (NRDC)
and Bonneville Envi-
ronmental Founda-
tion (BEF), outlining
the work necessary for
each stadium to adopt
on-site solar power
generation.

The New Jersey Jets Training Center now draws power
from 3,000 yingli Solar modules, designed to produce
750,000 kilowatt-hours annually.

The embrace of
solar power sends a
strong message to mil-
lions of fans and event-
goers throughout the
country and could
have a big impact on
the teams’ bottom
lines, too. In most American cit-
ies, solar panels can pay for them-
selves, potentially offsetting signifi-
cant energy costs in the long term.

StaPLeS centeR
yingLi SoLaR
AEg installed 512 kilowatts of power on the roofs
of the Staples Center and the neighboring Nokia
Theatre in Los Angeles. The systems were commis-
sioned in November.