Lancaster Baseball Going Solar

Some teams shoot for the moon. The Class A Lancaster JetHawks are targeting the sun.

Based in Lancaster, Cal. a city gunning to become known as the Alternative Energy Capital of the World, the JetHawks broke ground this week on a solar panel project designed to fulfill 98 percent of the energy needs at 14-year-old Clear Channel Stadium and save a projected $48,000 annually.

The JetHawks, an affiliate of the Houston Astros, are installing 1,500 4-by-6-foot solar panels atop a carport that is nearly 700 feet long. The concept is designed to store sunlight for use at night games at the 4,600-seat, city-owned ballpark. The project is expected to be completed this month.

Lancaster, a community of 146,000 in northern Los Angeles County, is planning the installation of solar energy devices at several other municipal facilities, including city and its performing arts center.

Clear Channel Stadium will be the first minor-league baseball stadium in California to go solar.

"Things like this take it out of the fringes and into the mainstream," Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parries told the Los Angeles Daily News. "It becomes an American ideal when the ballpark is operated by solar energy."

But while they're at it, they might want to look at harnessing wind energy as well.

The JetHawks ballpark is most famous for high winds, which routinely blow 40 mph during night games and can add 30 or more feet to the distance of fly balls.

By Seth Livingstone