This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The promised additions continue at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Real Salt Lake has partnered with Auric Solar to install the state's largest privately-owned solar array at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy in an announcement made on April 7. A 2,020-kilowatt system of solar panels installed on the structure and in addition a new covered parking area will offset, according to a release, 73 percent of RSL's total annual stadium power needs, which would be the largest offset in North American professional sports.

The project is expected to be completed in six months and become operational by October 2015. The environmental impact of the new solar array is expected to carry an equivalent of removing 450 cars from the road and planting 47,278 trees annually, according to the release from the club.

The array will feature 6,414 solar panels at 315 watts a piece. Upon completion, Rio Tinto will feature the fourth-largest solar array of any professional sports stadium on the continent, behind the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and the Pocono Raceway in Blakleslee, Pa.

"We are partnering with Auric Solar to increase our power efficiency while hosting more than 50 massive events each year in Sandy," said RSL and Real Monarchs owner Dell Loy Hansen in the statement. "The new solar covered parking structures will improve the quality of parking options for our 15,000-plus season ticket holders and provide our state and the surrounding environment with the largest solar energy offset for any U.S. professional sports venue."

The array is expected to be double the size of one at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

Ninety-five percent of the solar array at Rio Tinto Stadium will be installed on the new solar-covered parking structures in an new parking lot on the north side of the stadium in Sandy.

"Auric Solar's expertise make them the perfect partners to make Rio Tinto Stadium energy self-sufficient, while also improving the fan experience with the addition of covered and lit parking," said Andy Carroll, RSL's vice president of corporate partnerships in the release. "Our unique ability to assist Auric Solar in building brand awareness, both locally and across the industry, makes this partnership fully-integrated, mutually-beneficial, and uniquely symbiotic."

Hansen paid upward of $3 million last year to install a new 4,200-square-foot video board on the south side of Rio Tinto Stadium.

-Chris Kamrani

Twitter: @chriskamrani