Rio Tinto Stadium, home of Real Salt Lake (Major League Soccer) installed nearly 6,500 solar panels to offset 73 percent of Real Salt Lake’s total annual stadium power needs. It’s the largest offset among North American professional sports and entertainment venues.
“Auric Solar’s expertise and innovation have made them the perfect partners to convert Rio Tinto Stadium toward energy self-sufficiency in the venue’s seventh year, while also improving our fan experience with the addition of covered and lit parking,” said Andrew Carroll, chief business officer for Real Salt Lake, in a statement. “Our unique ability to assist Auric Solar in building brand awareness, both locally and across the industry, makes this partnership fully-integrated, mutually-beneficial, and uniquely symbiotic. The entire Auric team – led by founders Trent Vansice and Jess Phillips – consists of great people, providing all of the ingredients for an exceptional long-term partnership.”
The project only took six months to complete and includes enough panels to cover the entire field at the stadium. The 2,020-kilowatt system of solar panels were installed on the stadium as well as new covered parking areas as seen in the picture below.
Although a soccer specific stadium with just over 20,000 seats, Rio Tinto Stadium now boasts the fourth-largest solar array of any professional sports stadium in the U.S.
(Top image: Jeremy Piehler/Creative Commons)
