To enhance Boston’s clean energy output, Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, went solar May 19, 2008. City officials hired groSolar, a solar installer company based in White River Junction, Vt., to install a solar water heating system on the roof of Fenway Park. GroSolar partnered with Heliodyne, a solar water heating panel manufacturer, to complete the installation. The Boston Red Sox is the first Major League Baseball team to use a solar water heating system at their ballpark.

For the project, groSolar installed 28 Heliodyne solar collectors on the press roof of the stadium, close to the mechanical room where four 400-gallon storage tanks are located. The solar collectors absorb the sun’s heat to warm up the water; four Helio-Pak heat-transfer appliances conduct the heat from the collectors to the water tanks. The entire system was installed in just 5 days.

The solar water heating system is anticipated to reduce Fenway Park’s water-heating demand by 30 percent annually, with an average annual energy cost savings of approximately $13,600. The solar energy system will also offset the release of approximately 36,00lbs of harmful carbon pollution each year. This solar-heated water is used throughout the entire ballpark and its facilities.