California NASCAR raceway goes solar

Infineon Raceway getting 41 percent of power from solar panelsSome things seem to go together naturally—peanut butter and jelly, for example, also, solar arrays and farms, vineyards, fishing lodges, hippy communes. But one thing that’s bound to hit you as a surprise is a major solar installation at a NASCAR raceway.

“Which is, in some ways, exactly why it makes sense to do it,” said Steve Page, president of Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.

The raceway is situated in prime California wine country, where solar arrays are becoming commonplace. But that’s not why Infineon opted to go solar.

The facility, which hosts major power sports events and high-speed diesel-infused car races, has an admirable sustainability initiative, Page said.

In addition to a comprehensive recycling program, the raceway has introduced alternative fuels on the track and remains a good steward of the environment.

“We’ve always felt very strongly about how we operate in an environmentally sound way,” Page said.

The raceway celebrated its new solar array at the Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR event over the weekend and flipped the switch on it earlier in the month.

“It’s currently providing about 41 percent of our power,” Page said.

The 350-kilowatt array consists of almost 1,700 Panasonic solar panels, which are conspicuously placed in some of the most visible areas of the raceway, including above the Turn 10 sound wall, the main grandstand, the administration office and the Raceway Cafe, as well as the Jim Russell Racing Drivers School building.

“We wanted to install it in a highly-visible area,” Page said.

Panasonic also outfitted the raceway with an efficient LED display board to replace its lighted sign on Highway 37.

Page said there are differences between race fans and the rest of the general public. Racers and the people who love the sport tend to have a stronger emphasis than most on performance when selecting technology.

He said the installation at the raceway may be an educational tool and an inspiration for those race fans who will always pick the most powerful, well-performing, functional and reliable piece of equipment, and then if they could also do something good for the environment, they would. But race fans aren’t the types of people who would sacrifice performance for the environment’s sake, Page said.

“We’re trying to show that you can blend performance and sustainability,” he said.

Image courtesy of Infineon Raceway.