The Baltimore Ravens are adding a new layer to their stadium renovation program: a rooftop solar project that will bring about 1,000 panels to M&T Bank Stadium and introduce another large, high-visibility energy system that will need to be carefully commissioned before fans ever see a watt of output.
Approved by the Maryland Stadium Authority in early December, the project will place solar panels on the new North Plaza roofs and the entry canopy outside the stadium. All of the electricity generated is planned to feed directly into the stadium’s internal electrical system, offsetting a portion of the facility’s load on game days and during events.
The Ravens are taking on an atypical role for a tenant team. Under the agreement, the organization — not the stadium authority — will own the system and pay for its design, installation and long-term maintenance. Stadium authorities often fund major upgrades at publicly owned venues, but in this case the team is assuming both the capital investment and the risk tied to performance over the system’s expected 20- to 25-year life.
Baltimore County–based Lumina Solar has been selected to design and install the project, with a service affiliate expected to handle long-term operations and maintenance. That puts a regional solar contractor at the center of a complex, high-profile deployment that will require coordination with stadium operations, the authority, local code officials and the utility throughout design, construction and commissioning.
The work will take place while the venue is already in the middle of a multiyear, roughly $430 million renovation program known as “The Next Evolution,” which is reworking plazas, premium spaces and circulation routes through 2026. The North Plaza is being repositioned as a grand entrance with new structures flanking the gates, and it is those new roofs that will now carry solar equipment.
Project teams will be integrating the array into the broader renovation schedule, sequencing structural work, roofing, electrical infrastructure and solar installation so that the stadium can remain operational. The Ravens have indicated the solar work will be done in the offseason, with the intent that the system will begin contributing energy during the 2026 season once it has passed all inspections and performance checks.
For commissioning professionals, the project brings a familiar set of technical requirements, but in a unique environment. The system will require:
- Verification of structural capacity for racking and modules on the new plaza roofs and canopies
- Detailed review and testing of DC wiring, combiner boxes, inverters and protection devices
- Integration and functional testing of the interconnection between the solar system and the stadium’s internal distribution network
- Coordination of protective relays and shutdown procedures so the array behaves correctly under grid disturbances and during emergency events
- Validation of monitoring, metering and data acquisition systems used for performance tracking and utility billing
Because all energy will be consumed on-site, accurate metering and trend data will be essential for measuring actual savings against projections and for informing future phases of energy work at the complex.
The Ravens are not new to solar. In 2016, the team installed more than 1,200 panels at its Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills, creating on-site generation at the practice facility. M&T Bank Stadium itself became the first existing NFL venue to achieve LEED Gold certification in 2013, following earlier rounds of energy efficiency and operations improvements.
The new stadium array extends that sustainability roadmap but also reflects a grid-resilience mindset. Stadium operations leaders have noted that recent and planned building additions increase overall load and stress on the local grid. By layering solar onto those buildings, the team aims to offset a portion of that new demand while signaling to fans and the broader community that major venues can play a role in statewide carbon and energy goals.
From a commissioning perspective, the project will also need to address nontechnical considerations that are common to stadium and campus solar work:
- Crowd and event scheduling, which can constrain testing windows and require off-hours work
- Safety coordination among construction crews, stadium operations, and event staff, especially when using cranes or lifts near public areas
- Clear turnover documentation, including as-builts, testing reports and O&M manuals, so that stadium personnel and service providers can manage the system over its decades-long life
The project reinforces a trend across professional sports in which teams pair fan-experience upgrades with behind-the-scenes building systems work. While video boards and premium clubs tend to get the attention, solar, controls and electrical upgrades are now a recurring part of stadium capital programs — and they bring with them ongoing opportunities for commissioning teams to validate performance and help owners realize the energy and cost savings they are counting on.
Source: Baltimore Ravens plan 1000-panel solar project at NFL stadium
Photo Credit: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
