France Works on a Solar-Powered Stadium

      France has recently been claimed to embark upon a landmark renewable energy project concerning the construction officially commencing on a solar-powered stadium in the southwestern city of Bordeaux. The Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux, situated on the banks of the Garonne River in the Bordeaux Lac region, is a large-scale sports facility with a designated audience capacity of up to 42,000 spectators.
      While large-scale football stadiums do not have any spectacular image to them, the Bordeaux project is predicted to break new ground in Europe by deriving much of its power from solar photovoltaic installations. The stadium's car park is said to feature an extensive solar photovoltaic panel structure, which fulfills the dual function of shielding vehicles from the elements (such as sunlight, precipitation, wind, etc.) and to supply electricity to the entire stadium. In addition to such innovative renewable energy capabilities, the stadium is also set to be a landmark architectural work, which will help make a pivotal contribution to the aesthetic character of the city.
      The Swiss firm enlisted to work on this project, Herzog & de Meuron, is also responsible for a variety of architectural projects, including Beijing's "bird's nest" National Stadium, which was one of the defining emblems of the 2008 Olympics. However, the Bordeaux, France stadium is expected to be completed in 2015 and will serve as a host for one of the 2016 European Football Championship matches held by the Union of European Football Association.

Solar-Powered Sports Stadium in Bordeaux, France

Sports and Solar Power Energy

       The 2013 National Football Season may be six months away but one team is helping their community in sustaining a new outlook of their football stadium from a spectator sport to one who is involved with environment sustainability. Sunpower Corporation, a company involved in manufacturing solar panels, roof tiles, and high-efficiency photovoltaic cells, has been giving the opportunity to help the recent Superbowl Finalists, the San Francisco 49ers, by providing them with a solar panel system for their new stadium.

Santa Clara stadium, where the San Francisco 49ers will be playing their home games

       Sunpower Corporation has a partnership with NRG Energy, a large American-based company specializing in green-tech energy projects, and they are both collaborating on providing Santa Clara stadium with energy sustainability. NRG Energy is actually most known for its projects such as the electric vehicles' charging stations in California and wind farms in Texas; the company will be installing a number of solar elements on the stadium, giving it enough energy over the course of the year to offset the power consumed during the 49ers home games.
       This new system will be installed as three solar array bridges of solar panels of 400 kilowatts are done at the training center as well as there being a solar canopy built over a green roof terrace. The installation of the solar canopy defines it to be pro-football's first green rooftop, specifically as a 27,000 square foot canopy covered with vegetation, which will help insulate stadium's luxury suites as well as help to reduce stormwater runoff.

        However, this announcement of Sunpower Corporation and NRG Energy is not an unfamiliar one; it is part of the green trend spreading through NFL and other spectating sports. Metlife Stadium, home of the New York Giants and New York Jets, has 1,350 solar panels installed, producing 350,000 kilo-watt hours (or 10% of the stadium's energy on game day).

       The Fedex Field, home of the Washington Redskins, has also been involved in the green trend by having produced a total of 8,000 solar panels, providing them with 1/5 of their required energy needs.

Fedex Field having solar panels, which were installed by NRG Energy

       Major League Baseball participates in having stadiums of renewable energy sustainability in wind and solar power: San Francisco Giants, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, Washington Nationals, Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals.

5 Green Tech Trends in 2013

1. Solar Power Technology
The solar industry is facing a decline in price by 2016 when federal investment tax credit for solar installations from 30% to 10%. Though 4 years may seem a lengthy time, it is the same amount of time for a large solar power plant to be permitted, financed and constructed. Thus, as this new year kicks off, be sure to be on a lookout for there will be new discoveries to finance solar power installations, whether it will be residential installed solar panels or solar power plants in remote areas. An example of this could possibly be solar securitization, whereas the leases for residential solar power installations are bundled and sold to investors. Another example is known as crowdsourcing, where investors help finance projects and they would be shareholders of the company by buying a piece of the pie.

2. Watch Out For Solar Energy in California
BrightSource Energy's 370-megawatt Ivanpah "power tower" plant is going online in 2013 and it's the first big solar thermal facility in the U.S. that has been planned to be built more than 20 years. Solar thermal power plant uses mirrors to focus on the sun while it is on top of a liquid-filled boiler to generate more electricity. Though this may be exciting to experiment with, many developers tend to stick with the traditional, inexpensive way of producing solar panels; however, if this power plant is to produce interesting results, it may change these perspectives of solar panels.

BrightSource Energy's 370-megawatt Ivanpah "power tower" plant and its mirrors

3. Tesla Motors is getting ahead in the competition
With the production of the Model S, which is a high-performance electric sports sedan, Tesla Motors is getting ahead of the game in terms of the electric car market because of Silicon Valley company's network of Superchargers. For anyone who have no prior knowledge of this Supercharger network, it is a network of solar-powered chargers that will refill your Tesla Motors Model S free of charge. Not only that but the Model S charges 4-5x the rate of a high-capacity home charger, meaning you can get as far as 150 miles in half an hour. Great car, Tesla; props to you.

Tesla Motors Model S

This is Silicon Valley company's Supercharger; CEO Elon Musk has revealed to the audience the Supercharger, which has already been set up in six locations in California.

4. Biofuels are Advancing
Not only is solar technology advancing but there is a struggling revival of biofuels in place. The Sapphire Energy's algae biofuel demonstration plant in New Mexico desert is producing green crude, which is renewable crude oil made from sunlight, carbon dioxide, and algae to make green oils that can be converted into fuel. SG Biofuels of San Diego are also breeding new branches of jatropha, which is an inedible plant in South America and Africa, to help boost oil yields. 

Sapphire Energy is producing a 100-acre algae field in Southern New Mexico. 

5. China is, of course, winning in this battle of Solar Energy
While many U.S. startups on solar energy are declining, Chinese solar powered manufacturers are supported intensely by their government in that they receive enormous subsidies. In a recent news article, it is discovered that the Chinese is expanding more faster than expected - a Chinese firm had bought an American solar startup. MiaSolé has been expected to stand firm in this competition but in Beijing, it has been announced that Hanergy Holding Group of China, specialized in building hydroelectric dams, completed the purchase of the company and its technology for a fraction of what the investors had put in. 

John Carrington, chief of MiaSolé, is seen with Zhou Jiesan, an executive of Hanergy Holding Group, at the conference in Beijing

(Credit : Forbes Magazine)

Taiwan with their National Stadium "solarized"?

I know rooftops with solar panels may not be something new but seeing Taiwan's stadium, hosting many world games and powered only by the sun to no fewer than 8,844 solar panels, is a whole new level than many commercial buildings currently residing in the United States. Total funds that were put into the stadium was approximately $152 million dollars. Early reports say that the stadium can cover 75% of the energy consumption and on days that are sidelined, the power would be fed on the grid to power local communities with sustainable energy. So whose ready for some baseball?