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San Francisco Giants go to bat for solar power

Those sunny summer days spent basking in the bleachers may take on a new meaning for baseball fans, thanks to a sponsorship agreement between the San Francisco Giants Baseball Club and Sharp Solar Corporation.

“The Giants want to be in the forefront spreading the word about solar power,” explained Jason Pearl, Giants’ vice president of corporate sponsorship.

Shortly before the 2005 season began, Sharp installed a solar array on the roof above the team offices at SBC Park. In left-center field, a Sharp Solar sign is on display. “That’s the only sponsorship sign with the word ‘solar’ on it that you will see in an outdoor athletic facility,” Sharp Vice President Ron Kenedi noted proudly.

Demonstration offers learning experience
As important as the electricity the solar array produces is the opportunity to educate 3 million fans. “Once we entered the agreement, we came to understand the ballpark’s place in the community, how highly regarded it is,” explained Kenedi.

Over the course of the three-year sponsorship, the Giants and the solar panel manufacturer will work together to develop other promotions to draw attention to solar energy. Being in California makes the job somewhat easier, Pearl acknowledged. “The team happens to play for a city where there is already a great interest in renewable energy,” said Pearl.

“SBC Park is located in what we call the ‘Golden Triangle,’ ” Kenedi concurred. “The Moscone Center a few blocks away has a 600-kW system, and the Oakland Federal Express office, in a direct sightline from the ballpark, is generating one MW. Sharp also does a big residential business in the area.”

Sharp placed a multimedia kiosk in the leftfield concourse to monitor the system’s output. Through an interactive touch-screen display, fans can learn how solar energy works and about its benefits and request information from the manufacturer. The kiosk shows the system operating, describes its components and gives historic production figures for power generated in a day and CO₂ emissions avoided.

During selected games, the “Crowd Noise Meter” will broadcast the solar system’s output. “Instead of urging fans to pump up the volume, it will tell them to pump up the power,” said Pearl.

Potential to expand
For the Giants, the sponsorship offers a chance to “put a toe in the water,” said Pearl. “It’s an experiment to learn more about how solar technology works logistically and to find out how much power a system can produce.”

The 4.5-kW array transfers energy directly into the ballpark’s electrical grid. The system, which consists of 27 160-watt Sharp solar modules, is typical of California residences, but only slightly offsets the facilities’ electricity use. “We wanted an array that would show fans what their homes would produce,” said Kenedi.

Of course, the park’s peak use occurs during night games, when the ballpark lights consume a huge amount of energy, Pearl noted. But he conjectured that solar power might eventually provide more of the energy used for cooling locker rooms, offices and restaurants during the day.

The parapet roof that surrounds the top level of the ballpark has the square footage for a large installation. “It has an excellent south-by-southwest orientation, so there is room to add hundreds of kilowatts,” Kenedi said.

He noted that the point of solar generation is not to supply an entire load, but to offset it. “There are only 100 or so events each year, so there is plenty of time when the system would be making power that the park would not be using it,” said Kenedi.

Ball club shows environmental leadership
The solar demonstration is not the first project the ball club has undertaken to improve the sustainability of its operations. SBC Park’s recycling program sets the standard for ballparks across the country. In addition to recycling the usual glass, metal, aluminum, plastic and paper, the program sends soil and sod back to the sod farm for mulching and recomposition. After each game, a local recycling company collects grass clippings and food scraps for composting.

Park staff is working with maintenance personnel from other ballparks to implement similar programs at those facilities. Also, park management is looking at promotions to get more fans to assist with recycling efforts. “The organization is in a position to be a lightning rod for these types of issues,” Pearl asserted. “We’re proud of our ‘first-of-their-kind’ efforts to enhance SBC Park.”

Kenedi envisions another “first” for the Giants. “I’d love to see SBC Park become the first solar ballpark in the country,” he stated.