almost off the grid stadiuim

ALMOST OFF THE GRID STADIUM

i have always been interested in solar power and how 

we need to harvest it more often for electricity 

if new houses had solar panels added over the life

of the house and in certain cities and states with the 

incentives and rebates the solar panels would easily 

pay for themselves 

at the country n where we live we have solar panels

sixteen total

that produce anywhere from 25%-75% of our electricity use

(no thats not a brazilian planking on that roof)

now the electric coop we use has installed digital meters

so that we can see how much of our electricity is being

rebated back to us on our electric bill

what it doesnt show though is how much of our electricity 

that we produce is used directly by us before it goes to the

meter for measurement

eg if we produce 15 kw of electricity and use only 10 kw that

day then the meter will show we sent 5 kw up into the grid

and that will show up on our monthly bill but not the

10 kw we used directly from the solar panels

so recently i was intrigued about an article about 

a new stadium for the 2014 world cup and later the 2016 olympics

in brazil 

that is completely a net zero energy stadium

the stadium which is a refurbished old stadium will have a ring of

solar panels around the roof 

because of net metering the stadium

will be able to trade power with the grid when needed

(we in texas and many other states have net metering laws that allow

you to send excess power to the grid when you are not using it 

then later when its needed you can pull from the grid

thats how my system works also)

the solar panels on the stadium will pay for themselves in 10-12 years

and will still be working well beyond 25 years

they also have a photocatalytic membrane over the roof that will

breakdown pollution from the air

50% of co2 production related to sporting events come from the 

transportation to and from the stadium

(for those who dont believe in the co2 pollution climate changing 

theories you might want to go ahead and invest in respirators for

yourself your kids your grandkids as they will need them if we 

dont change things)

they have 3500 bicycle parking spots

that would work well in austin

the part im excited about is they collect rainwater off the roof

wow im impressed

they use it in the landscape and with their low flow water fixtures

they use the plentiful natural light and also shade the hot brazil sun

why are other countries ahead of us in all this green energy stuff

and why are we about to lose our lead in wind production as 

congress considers withdrawing wind exemptions

they did this to the solar a few years ago and we lost out to 

the europeans especially the germans

why couldnt jerry have done all this in his billion dollar mansion

of  a football stadium

the montly electric bill for this place is $200,000

thats 2,000,000 kws a month

it uses the same amount of energy as santa monica california

does in a year

thats the american way i guess

the organicgreen doctor