Today Taiwan boats of an incredible solar-powered stadium that produce 100% of its electricity from photovoltaic technology!  The stadium had a dragon shape with 50,000 seats and 8,844 solar panels that illuminate the track and field with 3,300 lux. The stadium is brand new and will officially open its doors later this year to welcome the 2009 World Games.

The architect is Toyo Ito, whose design negates the energy drain with a stunning 14,155 sq meter solar roof that is able to provide enough energy to power the stadium’s 3,300 lights and two jumbo vision screens. To illustrate the incredible power of this system, officials ran a test this January and found that it took just six minutes to power up the stadium’s entire lighting system!Wow

The stadium also features additional public green spaces, bike paths, sports parks, and an ecological pond. Additionally, all of the plants occupying the area before construction were transplanted.

The stadium not only does the solar system provide electricity during the games, but the surplus energy will also be sold during the non-game period. When the stadium is not being used, the Taiwanese government plans to feed the extra energy into the local grid, where it will meet almost 80% of the neighboring area’s energy requirements. Besides the stadium will generate 1.14 million KWh per year, preventing the release of 660 tons of carbon dioxide into atmosphere annually.