Pocono Raceway’s solar farm celebrated 10 years of producing clean and renewable solar energy on Tuesday, August 25, 2020.
“It is incredible to witness the progress our solar farm has made since going online 10 years ago,” said Pocono Raceway CEO, Nick Igdalsky. “This project was our first venture into sustainability and was the foundation for our ongoing green successes. We sincerely thank all who helped us start this project and who have played a role in maintaining it through the years. We will continue to invest in our solar initiatives, as well as the robust recycling, composting and waste diversion programs we add annually. Pocono Raceway wants to ensure we remain one of the most sustainable motorsports and entertainment facilities in the world.”
Pocono Raceway is recognized as the world’s first, privately-owned solar powered sports facility.
BY THE NUMBERS – POCONO RACEWAY SOLAR FARM DATA
· Size: Pocono Raceway’s 25-acre, three megawatt solar farm currently ranks among the top-10 largest solar-powered sporting venues in the world. Pocono In 2018, the Raceway was ranked fourth among the world’s top 50 largest solar stadiums and sporting venues behind Indianapolis (Ind.) Motor Speedway, TT circuit Assen (Netherlands) and Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia, Pa.,) as a result of an independent study.[1]
· Solar Panels: Pocono Raceway’s solar installation consists of 39,960 American-made photovoltaic modules, otherwise known as solar panels.
· Energy Disbursement: Pocono Raceway’s solar farm produces enough energy to power the track’s daily operations and provides electricity to over 300 local homes and businesses each year.
· Total Energy Produced: Pocono Raceway’s solar farm has produced a total of 37,042,235 Million Kilowatt hours (kWh.)
· Energy Equivalents and Offsets: The energy produced by Pocono Raceway’s solar farm is the equivalent of 1,074,224 propane cylinders or approximately 3,000,421 gallons of gasoline. It also equals the reduction of carbon emission of over 26,190 metric tons, the carbon dioxide offset from 666,759 trees or the greenhouse emissions from 5,658 passenger cars driven for a year.
(Note: All numbers are approximate and reported as of 12 p.m. ET on September 3, 2020.)
HISTORY – POCONO RACEWAY SOLAR FARM MILESTONES
- May 2010: Construction of Solar Farm Begins
- July 30, 2010: Pocono Raceway Solar Farm Dedication Ceremony
- August 25, 2010: Solar Farm Activated and Online
- December 9, 2010: Energy Production Milestone – 1 Million kWh
- December 26, 2011: Energy Production Milestone – 5 Million kWh
- April 7, 2013: Energy Production Milestone – 10 Million kWh
- July 23, 2014: Energy Production Milestone – 15 Million kWh
- January 7, 2017: Energy Production Milestone – 25 Million kWh
- March 9, 2020: Energy Production Milestone – 35 Million kwH
AWARDS, RECOGNITIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS
- 2010: Pocono Raceway receives The Citizens’ of Pennsylvania “Green Power: Make It” Award, Great Pocono Chamber of Commerce’s “Bizzy Award for Best Green Marketing Campaign” and Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau’s “Valued Partner Award” in recognition for its solar power initiative.
- 2011: Pocono Raceway honored with “Excellence in Renewable Energy Award, Readers’ Choice Award” during Renewable Energy World Conference & Expo and as one of the recipients of the Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection’s “2011 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence.”
- 2012: Pocono Raceway joins Beyond Sport. Beyond Sport is a global organization that promotes, supports and celebrates the use of sport to address social issues in communities around the world. We do this through convening, supporting and advising the worlds of sport, business, government, and development on how sport can be used as a tool to achieve both social and business objectives
- 2013: Pocono Raceway joins Green Sports Alliance. The Alliance inspires professional sports leagues, sports governing bodies, colleges, teams, venues, their partners and millions of fans to embrace renewable energy, healthy food, recycling, water efficiency, safer chemicals and other environmentally preferable practices.
- 2013 and 2015: Pocono Raceway receives NASCAR Green Awards in recognition of valued contribution to green innovation.
- 2017: Pocono Raceway, in partnership with Penn State University, becomes first NASCAR track to release sustainability report detailing solar farm, recycling efforts, waste diversion and additional green initiatives.
- 2018: Pocono Raceway’s sustainability report is updated.
- 2019: Pocono Raceway eclipses 30 Million kWh and achieves 75% waste diversion, whereas waste is diverted from landfills to be recycled or composted.
The Raceway’s solar farm is located along Long Pond Road, adjacent to the storied 2.5-mile triangular shaped track. To learn more about Pocono Raceway’s sustainability efforts, including a real-time look at solar farm production and 2018 sustainability report, please visit www.poconoraceway.com/green.
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