When you think about NASCAR, you think power, speed, noise and lots of left turns. Now when you think about the sport’s Pocono Raceway, you’ll think about solar power.

That’s because the race track has built its own power station, a solar farm with 40,000 solar photovoltaic panels. Built in one of Pocono Raceway’s old parking lots, the solar farm will provide all of the power for the track and its facilities—and generate enough electricity to power 1,000 nearby homes.

As one NASCAR official told NASCAR.com, “Token efforts have nothing to do with this. This is about making a meaningful contribution to the local community's power needs."

The solar farm is economical because the panels will last for 40 years. The raceway considered building a solar farm after Pennsylvania deregulated its electric industry, a development that threatened to increase the track’s power rates by 40 percent per year.

Officials will dedicate the solar farm on July 30 and it will be fully operational a few weeks later. Pocono Raceway will be the largest solar-powered sports stadium in the world. The solar farm will pay for itself in four to five years.

This solar farm is gigantic, but solar farms can be economical on a much smaller scale. If you’re considering building a solar farm on your property, contact us to speak to a solar installer or arrange for a free solar estimate. We handle commercial solar panel installations of all sizes; let us help you go solar.

(Photo from Nicholas_T's photostream)