In an effort to help bring a greener image to the sport of NASCAR racing, the owners of Pocono Raceway have invested $16 million to help create a massive solar power production facility to fully power the track and the neighboring community.
This week NASCAR will visit Pocono Raceway for the Pennsylvania 500, and the track owners say that the solar power will be partially up and running, providing some of the power for the event. The construction of the solar facility will be totally complete by next week, according to the Associated Press, just missing the major race.
In order to provide enough power for the raceway, as well as 1,000 nearby homes, Pocono constructed a 250-acre solar production facility – so massive it is visible from outer space. The project was developed by enXco, which says it is a three megawatt solar photovoltaic array.
In an article by BrighterEnergy, Peter Solomon, enXco’s director of solar origination, said, “We recognize the dedicated efforts of NASCAR to become more sustainable and we look forward to helping other tracks to follow Pocono’s leadership to reduce their carbon footprint through the generation of solar energy.”
The same article suggested that the new facility will cut emissions by nearly 2,370 tons per year, thanks to the 40,000 solar modules. The track also hopes to save money in the long-term, too, as its annual power bill is around $500,000.
References
1.’Pocono Raceway flips switch…’ view
2.’enXco helps Pocono Raceway…’ view
