Stadium creates electricity through the sun

Taiwan is building the first stadium in the world to use solar energy to produce electricity. It will serve the World Games sports event in July.

The stadium has an open structure and looks like a curled dragon when viewed from above.Photo: Daily Mail.

The shoe is shaped like a shoe with 55,000 seats. It is located on a 19 hectare plot of land in Kaohsiung City. After the 2009 World Games, the new stadium will serve major sporting events and become home to the Taiwanese football team.

The entire roof of the stadium is made of steel.Photo: Daily Mail.

Toyo Ito, a Japanese architect, has come up with an innovative design - with solar panels covering the roof. The entire roof is made of iron bars. Unlike most closed stadiums in the world, Ito's work has an open structure. With a semi-spiral design, it's like a dragon curling up while looking from above.

New-style stadiums not only save fuel costs for electricity generation, but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions.Photo: Daily Mail.

8,844 solar panels will produce 1.14 million kWh of electricity each year - enough to light up 3,300 bulbs and two giant television screens in the stadium. Surplus electricity will be sold to people during the hot days of the summer. If coal is used to produce electricity, the stadium will release 660 tons of CO2 per year into the air.