It's Always Solar In Philadelphia

I wrote this article a few days ago, but I refused to post it until after the Bears played the Eagles because I didn't want to jinx Chicago.  As it would turn out, the Bears didn't need my help and made Michael Vick look stupid all Sunday:

Go Bears!

Even though the Eagles couldn't figure out how to stay ahead of the Bears in Sunday's game, Philadelphia has found a way to jump way ahead of the rest of the NFL (as well as many other institutions) by investing heavily in alternative energy:

The Eagles have contracted with Orlando FL-based SolarBlue, a renewable energy and energy conservation company, to install approximately 80 20-foot spiral-shaped wind turbines on the top rim of the stadium, affix 2,500 solar panels on the stadium’s façade, build a 7.6 megawatt onsite dual-fuel cogeneration plant and implement sophisticated monitoring and switching technology to operate the system.

This is an amazing idea for stadiums, and I will not be surprised if we see many other franchises adopting these energy platforms at their own stadiums.

7.6 MW is more than enough to power the entire stadium allowing the Eagles to be free from playing hefty energy costs down the line.  Also, there will be an excess of energy left over that the stadium won't be able to use allowing Philadelphia to sell this energy back into the grid and actually make a profit (they are estimating ~4 MW).

The idea of selling excess energy back into the grid is nothing new.  The reason that Philadelphia's situation is so unique is that during the offseason the Philadelphia Eagles will be using barely any of this energy.  This will allow them to sell almost all of the 7.6 MW back into the grid enabling them to make money all year round off their stadium.

With all the wind that shoots around Soldier Field in Chicago, this seems like an obvious investment that will happen sooner than later.





Go Bears!