If you’re like us (and millions of other people around the world), get up at odd hours and, in some cases, even skip work to watch the World Cup this year, you’ll see something new: solar power! This year Chinese solar panel manufacturer Yingli Green Energy is one of the World Cup sponsors, along with the usual suspects like Adidas and Coca-Cola.
The first solar company ever to sponsor the World Cup, Yingli said they wanted to reach new customers. They’ll also get attention from those who already know something about solar power, like soccer-crazed fans in Germany and Spain, two of the countries with the most solar panels in the world.
If you’re lucky enough to go to a game at the Johannesburg Soccer City stadium, you’ll be able to see something more than just an ad– Yingli also powered an exhibition for sponsors at the stadium that’s completely carbon neutral. The commercial display uses solar panels along with locally-produced materials, and Yingli bought carbon offsets to cover the remaining carbon emissions. The solar array pumps out 1.2 kilowatts of power, and if it stayed up at the stadium over the course of a year, it would eliminate around 1.5 tons of coal-equivalent CO2 emissions. Just another reason to interrupt my hard working co-workers at 1BOG with a spontaneous…GOOOOOOAL!
Facebook comments: