The word “team” takes a new meaning as the clean solar powered floodlights are switched on, and the home game begins, with fans watching and cheering in Odd soccer club’s Skagerak Arena in Skien, Norway, when their local football team will be playing. Skien has approximately 55,000 inhabitants.
This project is based on an unusual combination at a soccer club, where soccer experts work with technology specialists. Odds soccer club wants to be the greenest soccer club in Europe and its Skagerak Arena deployed the latest power technology to integrate renewables in the urban community by using microgrids and energy storage capabilities.
“This project kicked off with a wild idea that it must be possible to use the roof of our arena for something useful,” said Einar Håndlykken, managing director of Odd’s Ballklubb. “Now, I hope this solution inspires others with a large roof to collaborate with those developing our energy systems.”
Included as part of the new energy lab, is the entire rooftop of the Skagerak Arena that is covered with 5,700 square meters of solar modules, with a nominal power of 800 kWp. The battery and the energy management system ensure maximum use of renewable power even when there is low light. The photovoltaic system not only powers floodlights, it also provides the neighborhood with locally produced electricity. What’s more, it allows the utility to collect insights into how a “prosumer” system – where consumers both produce and consume electricity – operates under different conditions.