Chinese solar giants Yingli Green Energy has supplied 1 MW of solar panels for a PV installation at the Arena Pernambuco in Brazil, site of at least five 2014 FIFA World Cup soccer matches this summer.
The ground-mounted solar project, which was overseen by Brazilian energy company Grupo Neoenergia, sits on a 15,000 square meter site on land in the Recife suburb of Sau Lourenco de Mata, and will generate 1,500 MWh of solar power to be fed directly to the stadium. The site uses 3,650 of Yingli Solars patented, high-efficiency monocrystalline PANDA series panels.
The installation will generate 30% of Arena Pernambuco's power demand, and will also produce enough electricity to meet the needs of 6,000 local households each year. After the World Cup is finished, the clean solar energy generated at the plant will be delivered to the local communitys electricity grid via Brazils net metering system.
Having been criticized in the past for leaving expensive "White Elephants" in countries that host the FIFA World Cup, FIFA President Sepp Blatter has been at great pains to ensure this summers festival of football in Brazil would leave a lasting and positive legacy on a country that is already soccer-mad.
"FIFA is committed to ensuring sustainability principles are applied to the 2014 FIFA World Cup planning and implementation," said Blatter. "Large-scale solar projects like this one are contributing to our mission of reducing the negative and increasing the positive impact of the World Cup on society and the environment. We are grateful for the support of Yingli and their local partners in helping us leave a lasting, positive legacy in Brazil."
For its part, the Arena Pernambuco will allow visitors to the stadium to track its solar performance at the Visitor Center, which has been designed to educate the public about solar power.
Yingli Solars CEO and chairman, Liansheng Miao, said he was thrilled to be able to bring clean energy to the local Recife community and to the World Cup.
"Thanks to its prominent location next to the stadium, this 1 MW project will raise the profile of solar energy considerably during the FIFA World Cup, helping to bring our message of affordable green energy to the people of Brazil and football fans worldwide."
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