Solar Cells Info

Your Ad Here

Pagevisits since Nov. 8,2006:

Solar panels at work at Great Lakes Loons baseball stadium

December 21st, 2006 by kalyan89 in PV-General, Solar Installations

Dow Diamond Solar powers at work: When the sun warms Dow Diamond and makes fans long for hot dogs and the words “play ball,” the light from the sky will power the stadium’s scoreboard.

By Cheryl Wade, 9 December 2006
source:
http://www.ourmidland.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17570557&
Dow Corning Corp. and Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. have teamed up to donate 168 solar panels, located outside the right field fence and adjacent to the outfield parking lot, which are designed to generate enough energy to operate the stadium’s scoreboard. Representatives from both companies showed off the panels — mounted 30 inches above the ground to be above the snow line — to local media on Friday, which was cold but sunny. Hemlock Semiconductor makes the polycrystalline silicon that is the main component of the panels, and Dow Corning makes protective coatings for the panels.

“We’re delighted to offer this completely renewable energy source to the Michigan Baseball Foundation and the mid-Michigan community,” said Marie Eckstein, vice president and general manager of Advanced Technologies and Ventures at Dow Corning. “Mid-Michigan residents can be proud that many of the enabling technologies were developed or made right here in mid-Michigan.”
Dow Diamond, home of the Great Lakes Loons, is believed to be the only minor league baseball stadium using solar power at its facility, according to a joint news release. The solar panels will be connected to the stadium’s main power grid, and the panels also will be tied to the grid Consumers Energy uses to supply the state with power. The panels will generate power year-round. At peak performance, they will produce 28.56 kilowatt-hours of power. During a year, that amount of energy is equal to the electricity consumed by seven homes.
The stadium’s power most likely will be switched on in February. “We want the stadium to be the best minor league baseball stadium in the country,” said Paul Barbeau, president and general manager of the Great Lakes Loons. That includes a focus on green, or environmentally friendly technology, he said.

Crushed red brick from The Dow Chemical Co.’s 47 Building is being recycled and used to make the warning track, a strip around the playing field that is a tactile reminder to players that they’re coming near a wall. Crushed concrete from the building will become gravel at the stadium. A requirement under state law, the stadium will have sensors that shut down the lights when people leave specific areas. There will even be waterless urinals in men’s restrooms.

The solar panels are designed to last 20-25 years. They are capable of withstanding one-inch hail and, depending on the angle, maybe a wild, glancing foul ball.

Leave a reply