Originally published on sister site Green Building Elements.
The International Indoor Soccer Arena (IISA) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has gone solar! While — to be honest — this is the first time that I’ve ever heard of the arena, it’s certainly still good news anytime businesses switch to renewable energy sources — good news both for the environment and also for the business’s bottom line.
As anyone who has ever been involved in business knows, overhead expenses for things such as electricity often constitute a large proportion of the costs necessary to keep a business going — so why not simply remove some of those costs? That’s exactly what the International Indoor Soccer Arena did, when it installed a 44.95kW-DC roof mounted solar PV system earlier this year — now, instead of a large electric bill every month, they actually receive a credit for the excess electricity that they generate. During August — the first full billing cycle of solar production since the system was turned on — the electric bill dropped from almost $1500 a month (in July) to a credit of $41.33! Hard to have a problem with changes like those. 🙂
Image Credit: The International Indoor Soccer Arena
The press release has more:
One year prior, the electric bill showed a usage of 9,520kWh with a bill of $1,428.43. By having solar installed, IISA saw a 103% reduction in their July electric bill. Gabe Nosseir, owner and general manager of IISA contacted Affordable Solar with the intention of gaining control of the electric costs associated with operating the indoor soccer arena. The arena’s pre-solar electric bill was averaging just over $1,300/month. After the installation of the 155 solar panels, the new average monthly electric bill will see a 92% reduction. The minimum energy output for year one is guaranteed to be 70,481 kWh. The estimated energy savings in year 1 will be $11,212. The estimated energy savings over 25 years will be $520,076. This is a significant savings for the successful operations of businesses of any size. The overall system cost was $143,000 and financing for the project was provided by Main Bank. The post-tax internal rate of return is a comparatively astounding 13%!
For those interested in checking the set-up out in person, the IISA is located right off of the south bound frontage road of Paseo del Norte in between Edith and Jefferson – 1311 Cuesta Arriba Ct NE, Albuquerque, 87113.
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Former Tesla Battery Expert Leading Lyten Into New Lithium-Sulfur Battery Era — Podcast:
I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ...
