Solid-state Lighting at New MLB Ballpark

Since March Madness is in "full swing" that means two things: the NCAA Basketball Tournament and Major League Baseball (MLB) Spring Training are "marching along." As the MLB season opener approaches in the next couple weeks, one new stadium will be showcasing numerous green building attributes such as LED lighting. The Minnesota Twins selected Daktronics Inc. of Brookings, S.D. for its multimillion dollar, integrated video, scoring and advertising display system at Target Field, the new downtown outdoor Minneapolis ballpark scheduled to open in mid April. The integrated system will include 50 digital LED displays that incorporate energy-efficient solid-state lighting for scoring and statistics systems and fixed advertising panels.

The centerpiece of the integrated system is a large, 1080p high definition display, which will measure approximately 101 feet wide by 57 feet high, featuring Daktronics HD-X LED video technology. More than 1,230 feet of full-color Daktronics digital ribbon display technology, in five different designs, will be featured inside of the ballpark. The contract also approves full color LED displays to be placed in several locations including: near the bullpen, the entry plaza, 14 backlit fixed advertising panels, 37 small LED ticket window displays, and two long LED ticker displays in the ballpark's restaurants.

Daktronics has equipment in 25 of 30 Major League Baseball facilities. Recently completed projects include large, high definition displays for the New York Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. The Minnesota Ballpark Authority and the Twins plan to apply for LEED certification of Target Field as a "green" building, which would be one of the few LEED-certified professional sports stadiums in the U.S. including MLB's Washington Nationals Park.

Companies such as Cree, Inc. produce both microchips and fixtures for LED lighting. This company recently announced the commercial availability of the award-winning XLamp(R) XP-G LED in warm- and neutral-white color temperatures to diversify this product beyond the cold-color region often used for video displays. These new high-brightness LEDs extend Cree's highest level of light output and efficiency across the white color spectrum, enabling general lighting applications such as LED replacement lamps, outdoor area and commercial luminaires. The warm white XLamp XP-G provides up to 114 lumens and 109 lumens per watt at 350 mA, and at a higher current level of 1.0 A, this LED produces up to 285 lumens at 84 lumens per watt, which is four times the light output than its prior generation technology- at equivalent efficiency. Comparable performance has been achieved for neutral-white lighting products. The U.S. Department of Energy's long-term R&D goal calls for white-light LEDs producing 160 lumens per watt in cost-effective, market-ready systems by 2025.

Companies such as Cree, Philips, Seoul Semiconductor and Nichia are leading the way in the development of LED lighting not only for high profile venues such as the Minnesota Twins' ballpark but consumer-level products as well, which can meet ENERGY STAR(R) luminaire and lamp requirements.

"Photo credit- www.twins.mlb.com: Minnesota Twins Target Field"