The Eagles Soaring

The Philadelphia Eagles are at it again. They are unveiling three new green initiatives to be in place later in 2011. They will install 100 wind turbines on the upper rim of the stadium, install elsewhere on the roof (and facade) 2,500 solar panels, and build a cogeneration power plant in the parking lot that can run on biodeisel or natural gas.

Solar and sports

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.