Following a public tender, Helion Solar AG was awarded the contract to equip the roof of the Tissot Arena in December 2014. Work began in May 2015 with the installation of the 8,100 panels and the facility was put into operation on 14 July. Energie Service Biel/Bienne (ESB) is the owner of the solar power plant, which is expected to produce two million kilowatt hours of electricity per year even in fog, cloudy skies or snowfall.
The panels have an east-west orientation to avoid what is known as the solar peak output at noon, which can overload the local power grid. ESB invested CHF 3 million in the project, which will power up to 500 households with electricity per year.