Bright future at Olympic stadium

Floodlighting is the biggest source of energy consumption at most football stadiums, but FIFA World Cup matches at the Berlin Olympic stadium will be illuminated by a high-tech system providing both better light, and requiring less energy than its predecessor.

In former times, towering pylons topped by a cluster of powerful floodlights were the trademark symbol of a football stadium, pouring light onto the pitch - but setting the night sky ablaze too. That impressive but wasteful spectacle is a thing of the past, as nowadays the playing surface is flooded with light from modern equipment featuring smaller, lighter floodlights integrated into the stands and aimed directly at the pitch.

Floodlighting remains one of the biggest sources of energy consumption at a football stadium. An evening kick-off required several continuous hours of operation, with sufficient brightness for spectators at the back of the stands to catch every moment of the action, and for TV cameras and press photographers to capture perfect images.

During renovation at the Olympic stadium, the old pylons dating from 1966 were replaced with modern floodlighting equipment. The new system has to cope with considerably more than a conventional 8,000 square meter football pitch, as the stadium features a running track and the interior covers some 16,000 square meters. A specialist Berlin engineering company spent two years developing, measuring, calculating and testing the new system, which comprises 155 double floodlights installed 40 meters high on the interior rim of the new roof. Each of the metal halide lamps has a nominal 2,000-watt rating.

FIFA requires lighting power of at least 1.500 lux at FIFA World Cup matches, but the number of floodlights has been reduced from 500 to 310. That in itself means a 40 percent reduction in power consumption compared to the previous system. Furthermore, the floodlights are positioned to achieve the prescribed 1,500 lux with as few lamps as possible. The technology also minimizes wasted light. The lamps feature ultra-transparent glass, so very little light is dissipated on leaving the floodlight. Seven different varieties of reflector work extremely effectively, directing more than 75 percent of the light generated into the arena.

In the past, the old pylons illuminated the pitch, the area around the stadium, and even the Berlin night sky - an enormous waste of energy. But now, the light is specifically targeted to where it needs to go, namely onto the field of play. The newly-designed reflectors ensure no spectators are blinded by the lights. And the new system provides benefits for armchair fans, as the strong illumination conveys the special atmosphere of floodlit games even better via the TV screen.
Source: Green Goal website (no longer functional)

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