Although 2011 was not a championship season, this year, the Seattle Mariners are really generating “heat.” Starting on opening day, April 13, the team will power through each home game at Safeco Field—with a little help from the new solar panels at the stadium.

It takes 300,000 volts to light up the 12-year-old ballpark and a good part of that power will be supplied by solar energy. Panasonic (News - Alert) Enterprise Solutions Company, based in Secaucus, N.J., is providing 168 HIT Double solar panels—so-called because they absorb and generate electricity from both their top and bottom sides.

The acronym HIT stands for “Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin-layer.” HIT solar cells are hybrid solar cells composed of single-crystalline silicon wafers surrounded by ultra-thin amorphous silicon layers, a proprietary technology originally developed by Sanyo (News - Alert), a Panasonic subsidiary. The unique structure minimizes defects within the p/n (positive/negative) junction of the cell, producing highly efficient cells; capable of achieving higher module efficiency while producing more power, even under hot temperatures.

The project is part of the baseball team’s ongoing commitment to sustainability, which includes electric vehicle charging stations, 535 metal halide lights, and other eco-friendly measures. The InSpec Group—an engineering and construction firm with offices in Japan and America—has designed huge solar arrays to be mounted on the elevator canopy of the parking garage; as well as on the roof of the Safeco Field Skybridge, which spans Edgar Martinez Drive in Seattle. (A bit of trivia: The drive is named for the retired Mariners third baseman and designated hitter.)

The 32.76-kilowatt system will generate approximately 40,000-kilowatt hours of power annually, which will feed into the Safeco Field distribution grid. Fans will be able to track the amount of power generated by the solar panels on the monitors inside the ballpark.

According to Jim Doyle, president of the Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Company, "The Mariners have a commitment to sustainability and our system will help them achieve their goals by using a natural power source, the sun, to reduce Safeco Field’s energy costs. By making fans aware of how solar energy generation—even in places like Seattle—can make a difference for any site, perhaps more people will consider adopting solar power for their own energy needs. "

Environmentalist and actor Ed Begley, Jr., also is working with Panasonic —to deploy a solar panel system for his new home in the Los Angeles area. "The installation of Panasonic’s bifacial panels at Safeco Field sounds like a home run to me,” said Begley, Jr. "It makes economic sense to use the power of the sun to help reduce [the Mariners’] energy costs.”