Cardinals Opener Serves Solar Hotdogs

Fans will get their first taste of solar-cooked hot dogs at the Cardinals home Opening Day Friday the 13th, at Busch Stadium. Those are green wieners.

“This is all part of the St. Louis Cardinals’ commitment to green its game,” according to Joe Abernathy, vice president of stadium operations.

Take the poll at bottom: Should hot dogs be cheaper now?

Sachs Electric, a company started by Chesterfield's family of its modern founder, is one of three companies partnered with the St. Louis Cardinals to bring solar energy to Busch Stadium, for the first time.

Busch Stadium is the 6th major league ball park to go with solar panels for energy.

“Sachs Electric has served the Cardinals for more than 70 years, including the floodlighting and electronic scoreboard at Sportsman’s Park for the first night game ever played in St. Louis,” according to Joe Barnard, vice president of Sachs Electric. 

was started by emigrant Samuel Sachs and later sold to its employees by his son, the late Louis S. Sachs—who is credited with the founding of modern Chesterfield by bringing Chesterfield Mall to the intersection of Olive and Highway 40 in 1970, and developing the "Chesterfield Village" business district around it.

“It’s a pleasure to help the Cardinals usher in a new era of renewable energy in a form that educates the public as well,” Sachs Electric's Barnard said. 

Opening Day, Busch will power up using 106 solar panels and producing approximately 32,000 kilowatt hours of solar energy per year. 

“Since the stadium opened in 2006, we’ve been able to cut our energy use by 20 percent and water use by 10 percent," Abernathy said.

Baseball fans shouldn't taste a difference in hot dogs cooked with power from solar energy.

Take the poll at bottom: Should hot dogs be cheaper now?

How it works 

Sachs Electric, along with Microgrid Energy and Electrical Connection collaborated on the green energy conversion of Busch Stadium, in St. Louis.

The two solar arrays are located on the roof of the ticket building on Clark Street, and atop a canopy in the left centerfield bleachers at the Ford Family Plaza.

To raise awareness of solar energy, an informational kiosk about the projectis being installed in Ford Family Plaza.  

Microgrid Energy created a webpage dedicated to the installation.

The solar panels were manufactured by Schott Solar in the U.S.. The panels, or arrays, produce electricity that feeds into the stadium’s electrical distribution system, and mixes with the power from the grid for use throughout the stadium. 

There are no batteries, and all the energy produced is used in the stadium.

The solar energy will offset the grid power used by stadium operations, reducing electrical bills. Although the offset is a relatively small percentage of the stadium’s power use, it will result in a large amount of savings over the life of the system.

A “Solar Day” will be celebrated April 29 at Busch Stadium, with a variety of activities, officials said.