Business & Tech

Construction Underway on Solar Installation at Patriot Place

NRG Energy and The Kraft Group expect the solar canopy project to be completed by the start of the 2012-2013 NFL season.

If you have walked around Patriot Place recently, you may have noticed a sign similar to the one in the photo above announcing solar canopies powered by NRG Energy were coming soon to Patriot Place.

The construction on that project, according to a press release issud by The Kraft Group, began May 1 and is a joint effort between NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) and The Kraft Group.

The project is construction of a "futuristic solar canopy, part of a 1 megawatt (MW) solar installation at Patriot Place," according to the press release.

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The installation is expected to be completed by the start of the 2012-2013 NFL season.

"Since the construction of Gillette Stadium, we have focused on long-term sustainability and energy efficiency,” said Robert Kraft, Chairman and CEO of The Kraft Group when the project was announcd in December 2011. “We introduced solar power with the addition of Patriot Place, and NRG will help us take our renewable energy efforts to new heights. In addition to being good corporate citizens and a desire to leave behind a healthy environment for our children and grandchildren, we also believe that this is good business."

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The canopy will generate clean, renewable power while providing shade and cover for visitors to the shopping, retail and dining destination’s North Marketplace by partially covering the outdoor walkways with a combination of standard and translucent solar panels, according to the press release.

Standard rooftop solar panels will provide additional power, bringing the expected annual output of the solar power system to 1.1 million kilowatt hours, or the equivalent of powering an average household for almost 100 years. Upon completion, 60 percent of Patriot Place’s electricity use will be provided by solar power, reducing carbon emissions by more than 800 metric tons every year, or the equivalent to taking 575 cars off the road, according to the press release.

In December 2011, NRG and The Kraft Group announced a comprehensive sustainable energy supply agreement for Gillette Stadium and Patriot Place. NRG will also provide all the additional non-solar power for the nearly 70,000-seat stadium and the more than one million square foot retail and entertainment complex.

NRG owns and operates 450 MW of wind power and is the largest solar developer in the United States with more than 900 MW of solar generation in operation or under construction at the end of 2011, and an additional 1,000 MW in development.


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