Solar carparks

From PV Magazine:

I think solar carports* are growing for a variety of reasons – public buy-in for solar is huge these days and I believe that confidence and the current political climate has many communities and businesses stepping up and becoming renewable energy leaders and climate activists themselves, to show off their long term, forward looking commitment to sustainability and a healthy population.

Carports are an easy option for many in urban and suburban areas as it puts their otherwise cost-sink parking lot or garage to work! Carports make economical sense and they are also huge statement pieces for the community – a rare branding or marketing opportunity with an attractive return on investment. A school, for example, can point to the carport and explain how it is investing in the long term for the school, students and community at large. That school becomes a point of pride in the community and a place parents want to send their kids.

Carports also create more value for the parking lot users, which our customers are interested in – the moment users arrive they have a better experience because of the improved safety and security from better LED lighting and protection from the brutal Californian sun or winter rains, the carports are also an aesthetic appeal to an otherwise uninteresting, boring, flat parking lot.

“Carports do a good job of serving potential solar customers that lack the higher acreage required for ground mount systems as well as the large, clear roof space required for roof mounted systems. These ideal carport customers tend to share a common bond of having need for high capacity parking and large electrical demand – think airports, sports stadia, schools – and are almost always located near population centers due to the nature of their business. Because these are the ideal customers for solar carports, the structures are much more visible during most people’s day-to-day lives than commercial ground mount systems, which are more common in rural, less populated areas; and commercial rooftop systems, which are generally out of sight on top of flat-roofed buildings."

[Read more here]



*in Australia, a carport is a roofed area which provides some protection to cars from rain and damp, usually without walls or a door.  It's clear from the text of the article that they mean a carpark.  But they're using the term carport because the parking place is shaded and protected by a roof, which just happens to be a solar panel.