The Baltimore Ravens are tackling sustainability and rising energy costs by commissioning a solar project that will soon be built on M&T Bank Stadium. Lumina Solar is slated to construct a 1,000-panel solar array located on the stadium’s North Plaza once this NFL season has wrapped.
Credit: Shawn Hubbard/Baltimore Ravens Photos
This solar project will cover a partial amount of the stadium’s energy consumption. The Ravens will own the solar project and pay to have it maintained post-installation.
“It’s all part of our full sustainability plan,” said Rich Tamayo, senior VP of stadium operations and guest experience. “We’re building new buildings that have an extra energy draw and extra stress on the grid. Anything we can do to add solar to those buildings to pull away from that grid, I also thought was very important. It’s something we thought was right, and it’s part of the plan to be good stewards in the community.”
Since being built in 1998, M&T Bank Stadium has undergone hundreds of millions of dollars in renovations, and in 2013 was the first existing professional sports stadium in the United States to earn a LEED-certified Gold designation for its sustainability measures. The franchise reduced water, greenhouse gas emissions and electricity consumption, and increased energy efficiency at the stadium. Additionally, the Ravens have implemented “hand-sorting” recyclable materials to reduce waste produced during games.
This latest array is the second solar project the football franchise will have built on its facilities. The first was a 1,200-panel array installed at the Under Armour Performance Center, the team’s training facility.
