Sunny days ahead in Kaiserslautern

The largest solar energy facility in German football is currently under construction on the roof of the stadium in Kaiserslautern. The smallest FIFA World Cup�EHost City is making a significant contribution to a FIFA World Cup in which eco-friendly energy plays a major role, as one of the Green Goal programme's priority targets.

Construction teams are currently hard at work installing a photovoltaic facility over three of the stands at the FIFA World Cup Stadium Kaiserslautern. A total of 5,000 modules will have been installed by the end of the year, covering a total area of 6,000 square meters, the equivalent of a very large football pitch.

On sunny days, the facility will generate up to 800 kilowatts, and is forecast to produce an annual total of 720,000-kilowatt hours, theoretically enough to supply 200 family homes with electricity.

The first phase of the facility, mounted on the West stand and rated at 230 kilowatts, came on stream on 15 May 2006. The project posed a challenge to the engineering team: stadium roofs are exposed, relatively fragile structures that are not specifically designed to bear the weight of 5,000 solar panels.

In Kaiserslautern, the engineers turned to a novel solution; deploying lightweight aluminum frames to attach the panels. The frames are specially constructed to offer stability despite a relatively small number of fixing points, thus eliminating the risk of puncturing the roof exterior.

Electricity generated at the stadium will be fed into the municipal grid, with the operator of the facility compensated accordingly. City authorities are especially delighted, as the municipal stadium operating company incurs no costs from the project. The total private investment of some Euro 4 million will be covered by selling the power generated.

"Even before a ball has been kicked, we can declare environmental protection the winner in Kaiserslautern," commented FIFA World Cup co-coordinator Erwin Saile. The new photovoltaic facility adds to Kaiserslautern's strong reputation as a city dedicated to solar energy. Within the framework laid down by Green Goal, the city's "Solar Energy for the 2006 FIFA World Cup" programme has attracted more than Euro10 million of investment in solar technology.

Kaiserslautern currently boasts photovoltaic capacity rated at more than 2.6 megawatt, and is aiming to improve that figure to 5.4 megawatt by the end of the year. Should Kaiserslautern meet this target, the smallest FIFA World Cup Host City would take over top spot in the "Solar Bundesliga" among German communities.

The solar power-station on the roof of the stadium eliminates more than 500 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, thus fulfilling two Green Goal targets. First, the incremental admissions attributable to the 2006 FIFA World Cup should be reduced to the absolute minimum, Second, renewable energy should be play a leading role at the stadiums, setting the stage for eco-friendly operations long after the finals are over.
Source: Green Goal website (no longer funtioning)

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