Solar energy is making a lot of friends lately and not just in high, or low, places, but everywhere…from Google to the government and into the wide world of sports. We already know how much solar enthusiasts like to race cars, but now solar technology is finding some key, high profile uses in major professional sports.

SBC Park, A Solar First

The story starts in 2005 with the landmark installation of a 4.5 kW system at SBC Park in San Francisco. The Giants, the city’s major league baseball franchise, and Sharp Solar, the former world leader in solar energy, agreed to offset the park’s gargantuan energy needs. Believed to be the first of its kind in professional sports, it was also a move to promote solar energy in California, the world’s third largest solar energy market.

Solar Sports Scoreboards

And it worked well, beyond California. Just a year later, Scoreboards-US and Solar Night Industries
combined to create Solar Sports Scoreboards. Marketed to anyone from municipalities to professional sports stadiums, the scoreboards’ self-sufficient nature meshes well with the growing demand for alternative energy as a source for electrical needs, including such outdoor displays. Another company, Solar Score, manufactures solar scoreboards for smaller uses such as Little League games, is based in Canada but is making a footprint in the U.S. with several upcoming installations.

The National Football League

The National Football League is making its clean energy footprint also, by trying to erase its biggest carbon footprint — the Super Bowl. In 2008, the NFL teamed up with Salt River Project (SRP), the local electricity provider, to power Super Bowl XLII in Arizona with 100% renewable energy. Fox Sports joined in also as a number of renewable sources, including solar, were used to erase the environmental impact of the nation’s largest single sporting event.