The Padres are “about to become baseball’s undisputed leader in the solar standings,” as the team has begun construction at Petco Park on what will be the “largest solar power system” in MLB, according to Rob Nikolewski of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. The team's facility will be a "336,520-watt project comprised of 716 high-efficiency, 470-watt solar modules expected to produce more than 12 million kilowatt-hours over the next 25 years.” While seven other MLB teams have solar facilities, Padres officials said that the club's solar array "will be larger than all the other teams’ facilities combined.” Workers from San Diego-based Sullivan Solar Power “began installing the modules earlier this week” and the Padres anticipate the project will be done by Opening Day on March 29. The panels “will be mounted on the park’s roof, and one-quarter of the panels will hang over the stadium’s high canopy." More than a mile of electrical conductors "will send solar electricity to the park’s distribution center.” The project will cost the team about $1M, but officials “predicted the team will save enough money from a combination of lower electricity bills and renewable tax credits that the project will pay for itself in about six or seven years.” The solar project is not the only new addition to Petco Park this season, as a new $2M video board is being placed over the right field seats (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 1/18).
