Well, this is cool. Want a break from transfer rumors? How about a story that intersects football with green energy? Tottenham Hotspur have contacted Haringey Council ahead of putting 3,800 solar panels on the roof of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, enough to generate 1.64 megawatts of renewable energy.
The energy generated would go to offset the power needed to run the stadium, from lighting, matches, concerts, hospitality, and other buildings nearby. Stadiums are huge buildings, and the power costs to run them
are similarly huge. Offsetting that power with green energy just makes sense, even if it’s England and the sun doesn’t show its face for like six months out of the year (I kid).
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium roof is also pretty much ideal for installing solar on it, to the extent that I wonder if that was a planned potential expansion when the stadium was first designed and constructed. Or maybe it’s just a happy accident — either way, it’s a good thing.
Why now and why not when the stadium was first constructed? Well, it’s been a few years since the stadium was new, and since then the cost of green energy and of solar panels to generate that energy has plummeted to an all-time low.
The club is seeking clarification from the council as to whether they need to submit a new proposal before starting the build, or if previous rules will allow them to start soon. The club wants to start the installation of solar panels on the roof in September, and finish by December of this year.
Quite frankly, at this point there’s no reason why most large buildings shouldn’t have their roofs covered in solar panels everywhere. It’s a common-sense and relatively low cost enterprise that pays for itself in the medium term and reduces reliance on the electric grid. The article doesn’t say so, but I’d assume there’s also going to be plenty of battery storage so that night time events can pull on some of that power during evening matches and concerts.
Tottenham isn’t be the first stadium to put solar panels on the roof, and hopefully it won’t be the last. But I welcome this move.
