San Diego Park Breaks Baseball’s Solar Record
The San Diego Padres are going solar with the installation of a 336,520-watt Sullivan Solar Power system at Petco Park. Work is scheduled to be completed by March, prior to opening day.
By Anca Gagiuc
Baseball fans are obsessed with outstanding performances by their favorite players, but San Diego’s ballpark is on track to break a record before a single pitch is thrown this season. By opening day, Petco Park will be the site of Major League Baseball’s largest solar power installation. When completed next month at the San Diego Padres’ home field, the 336,520-watt project will be larger than the other seven Major League Baseball solar projects put together.
“With Petco Park serving as the premier sports and entertainment venue in San Diego, we take pride in continuing to make it the most energy-efficient and sustainable facility possible,” said Padres COO Erik Greupner in a prepared statement.
The Sullivan Solar Power system consists of 716 high-efficiency, 470-watt Sunpower solar modules that are being installed on the ballpark’s upper deck roof canopy. The system will generate 330 kilowatts, enough to power the Padres’ front office. Moreover, the system will generate more than 12 million kilowatt-hours over the next 25 years and is expected to yield more than $4 million in savings.
Petco Park’s solar project is the latest in a series of energy-efficiency measures, which notably includes the 2015 installation of LED lights, which replaced 768 metal halide fixtures with 400 LED fixtures. These steps made Petco Park an all-LED facility, cutting sport light usage by 40 percent and reducing the operating expenses and labor hours associated with the maintenance of the previous lighting system.
Swinging for the Fences
The solar system will contribute to San Diego’s ambitious goal of cutting greenhouse gases in half and using 100 percent renewable energy citywide by 2035. As part of their partnership, Sullivan Solar Power and the Padres will host educational workshops at Petco Park throughout the 2018 season to help Padres fans go solar.
“As a native San Diegan, I could not be prouder that the Padres are joining the solar energy revolution, and showing the world that we no longer need dirty fossil fuels to power our needs,” said Daniel Sullivan, founder & president of Sullivan Solar Power.
Video courtesy of Sullivan Solar Power
