The stadium itself isn't able to support much photovoltaic panels, but with the amount of space around there's still room for a massive solar power plant. Up to 30% of matchday-use energy will come from new panels.

Creating green, sustainable buildings, using renewable energy sources – these tendencies grow stronger in sports architecture. And while it's a good thing overall, not every building shows the same potential in terms of “going green”.

Recife's Arena Pernambuco, one of the group game arenas of 2014 World Cup, cannot support significant number of photovoltaic batteries with its mostly membrane outer shell. But in turn it benefits from lying outside the city, in a (so far) rural area.

That's how 3,650 panels (or 15,000 sqm) delivered by Chinese company Yingli are able to be installed on the site – not atop the stadium, but next to it. This amount of solar power should support the stadium's daily use with ease, while on matchdays it's said to constitute 30% of required energy. All surplus power will be forwarded to the central grid.

While this clearly is a case of 'green' tendency in stadium management, we still need to remember that creating the entire mixed-use complex 'Cidade da Copa' prompted deforestation of some 240 hectares along the Capibaribe River.