Solar equipment from China will power Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium, which served as the venue for the 2014 World Cup final, for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.
The Maracana will cater to the games' opening and closing ceremonies, as well as soccer matches. Officially named as the Estadio Jornalistaa Mario Filho, the arena was built originally for the 1950 World Cup Brazil.
For the Rio 2016, world's leading solar panel producer China-based Yingli Solar was commissioned to manufacture and install a total of 15,560 panels around the stadium's metal roof. The installation commenced in 2014.
As he told to Xinhua on Sunday, Jeffrey Barnett, Yingli Green Energy Americas vice president for international sales, ensured that "all the panels have at least 25 years of service life."
Yingli lauds the 390-kilowatt system's capacity to decrease carbon dioxide emissions amounting to 2,500 tons annually.
"The success in Maracana project was a fantastic brand building case and a milestone to Yingli's development in Latin America, since we established our first office in this region in Sao Paulo in 2011," Barnett shared.
Brazil's move to use solar panels is part of its commitment to host an environmental-friendly Olympic Games. The country also aims to take the role of setting a good example of sustainability.
"We aim to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions and hold a low-carbon Olympics, leaving a green legacy for Brazil," Tania Braga, Rio 2016 Sustainability, Accessibility and Legacy Committee head, remarked.
Braga also emphasized that "sustainability does not include additional costs . . . it helps being more efficient and then it reduces costs."
Yingli's Barnett noted that the company is also into promoting solar panel use for residential and commercial establishments. He added that the solar panel producer has already expanded its presence to over 20 Latin American countries.
Barnett said that Brazil is one of Yingli's most important partners, along with Mexico and Chile.