Switzerland’s largest football stadium gets 850 kW solar

SolarMax has provided string inverters for the solar plant on Switzerland’s largest football stadium.

Football and solar power is a combination that is becoming increasingly common because the large available roof spaces provide an excellent location for the installation of solar plants, with the generated power being used directly on site. 

In Germany, 13 football clubs already play in the ‘solar league’ and in Switzerland there are now four. The latest addition is St Jakob-Park, also known locally as the ‘Joggeli’, the largest football stadium in Switzerland and the home of FC Basel.

The biggest challenge in this project was harmonious integration with the roof, which had to be approved by the Basel planning authority and also by architects Herzog & De Meuron, who designed the stadium. It was also not simple to configure the desired PV output due to the unusual structural conditions.

“This made it all the more exciting for SolarMax to be involved in this project,” said Simon Stutz, Key Account Manager for Switzerland at SolarMax. “We are very happy that our inverters are represented on this well-known building.”

“The SolarMax MT2 string inverters were chosen because of their multitracking capability, as well as the excellent maintenance service provided by Sputnik Engineering,” explained Walter Mikesch of Solventure, who installed the PV power plant.

Since its alteration for the 2008 European Championship, St Jakob-Park has a capacity of 38,512 seats; at concerts with seated and standing places there is room for up to 60,000 people. The stadium owners, operators and investors were in agreement that the stadium roof offered an opportunity to construct a PV power plant on a building of public interest and thus lead the way by setting a positive example.

System data:

• Output/surface: 850 kW/5500 m²
• Modules: 3100 monocrystalline modules from Trina Solar with 270 Wp; 60 polycrystalline modules from Kyocera with 195 Wp
• Inverters: 51 x 15MT2 from SolarMax 
• Expected annual yield: 810,000 kWh.