The pride of Missouri is the Busch Stadium in St. Louis and every Cardinals fan will back that up. But the stadium has made the ultimate decision to take their sense of pride into the next level and include a commitment to ‘greening the game’. While the idea is being embraced by many stadiums across the country, Busch Stadium has introduced electronic sports scoreboards that are operated with solar power.
The addition of the Busch Stadium solar power project began in 2012 with the installation of two solar arrays placed on the ticket building roof as well as on top of the left centerfield bleachers canopy in the Ford Family Plaza. This has expanded to a total of 106 solar panels to support the stadium’s electrical needs, resulting in the production of 32,000 kWh per year. To reinforce their commitment and educate public awareness on the topic of solar energy, they have added a kiosk that offers information on solar energy as well as their own solar project.
The solar panels produce electricity that includes a feed directly to the electrical distribution system of the stadium. It will mix the solar power attained in the grid and this power will be used throughout the electrical needs of the stadium. The beauty of this plan is that all of the energy is being stadium produced and there are no batteries. The reduction in electrical use has resulted in significant dollar savings as the solar energy offsets grid power.
Fans and attendees of any of the games can look up to their favorite high tech sports scoreboard or wander throughout the concession stands and realize that the scoreboard game update as well as their favorite hot dogs or drinks, are all being powered via solar power.
The stadium started their ‘green game’ concept in 2006 through the use of water reduction efforts. Averaging a ten percent water savings, they took the concept even further to twenty percent electrical savings. The renewable energy concept of solar power, hosted by such a well-respected and revered venue is serving as a standing ground to educate and encourage other businesses as well as private citizens to embrace the green standard.
The addition of the solar arrays is the latest in the green effort by Busch Stadium. It adds to their current recycling program of which they recycle 2,400 tons of trash and 800 tons of yard waste every year. They participate in food donations that total to over $159,000 worth of food each year and have teams of volunteers that assist in all of their green gaming concepts.
Cardinals fans have a lot to be proud of with their sports teams, and they can add their stadium name to some of the top stadiums that are aware of, focused on and committed to being environmentally friendly. As a renewable energy source, solar power appears to be the next technology that more stadiums will be adopting, along with increased green awareness to the public.