A recent article in Business Week highlighted that the invest some teams have made in solar will not pay a dividend for a number of years. While some facilities are installing numerous green initiatives, solar has been close to the bottom of the list since it really does not pay. Solar arrays on a roof also can reduce the ability to sell sponsorship naming rights to place on a roof and reduce the amount of load bearing weight that a roof can support. For example, Progressive Field in Cleveland installed 1,300 square feet of solar panel at a cost of $180,000 in 2007. The panels produced 29,000 kilowatt hours over the past three years, but the facility uses 17 million kwh per year so the panels only make a small dent in the energy needs.
Staples Center spent $2.3 million in 2008 to build a 25,000 square foot array. The 1,727 panels supply 456,000 kwh per year out of the arenas' total demand for 21 million kwh. At 12 cents an hour they save around $55,000 a year. This means it would take more than 40 years for the project to pay for itself.
However, a recent report indicated that the cost of photo-voltaic modules have declined 40% in the past two years and the installation cost has also decreased around 10%. This could also help make solar more affordable.
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