The Benefits of Solar Carport

A solar carport is a photon-capturing canopy covering a parking area. While they have some things in common with traditional carports and ground-mounted solar arrays, solar carports have distinct advantages over both.

If you're interested in solar energy and own a car, read on to decide whether a solar carport system is a smart investment for you.



Why Choose A Solar Carport?

While a normal carport provides covered shelter for a parked car, a solar carport provides power too!
A carport is often used as a cheaper alternative to a full garage, providing shelter from the elements, but not really doing much to increase security. But a residential or utility solar carport combines the carport concept with a ground-mount solar panel array. It's a fantastic dual-use structure, providing you with ecologically-friendly power, whilst protecting your car from the elements.

Solar Carport Types:

There are over 17,000 parking facilities in the UK and the sector generates ￡1.5 billion per annum (BPA, 2015).
Installing PV systems on surface and multi-storey car parks to generate renewable energy is becoming increasingly popular as the area above a car park is an otherwise unexploited brownfield site. There are so many types of solar carport mounting systems, and they can divided into the following types based on its piles or structure shapes:

-Single Pile Solar Carport
-Double Piles Solar Carport
-Waterproof Solar Carport
-W-Shape Solar Carport
-N-Shape Solar Carport

Site selection and design factors impact on project financial viability:
Distribution network capacity

The distribution network connection capacity at the location of the solar carport is an important design factor that can limit the capacity of the system. The Distribution Network Operator (DNO) can advise on the cost of connection. If there is little capacity available, the cost of distribution network connection can increase dramatically. Onsite management of energy flows through energy storage and/or use of export limiting devices can be used to mitigate against this issue.

Onsite energy usage

Onsite energy usage (i.e. self-consumption) of the electricity generated typically gives the greatest returns. With retail electricity costing between 9-13p/kWh29, it makes financial sense to consume as much of the generated solar electricity onsite and/or selling it to nearby energy consumers - including EV users.

Car park type

There are some significant differences between installing solar carports on surface car parks and on the top deck of multi-storey car parks.

Grants and incentives

There are a number of grants and incentives available for solar carports. The installed system may need to meet certain criteria to be eligible for specific incentives and deadlines may need to be met to qualify.

PV array orientation

Depending on the onsite energy requirements, it may be more beneficial to orientate the carports on an east-west alignment to provide a longer generation day.

Benefits of Solar Carports

1. Flexibility
2. Easily Integrated Into The Home System
3. Solar Carports Are Easier maintenance
4. Offers Shelter For Your Car
5. Charging Your Electric Car
6. Solar Carports Saves On Space

From this article on why choose a solar carport and its benefits, we can clearly see that these structures come with several benefits. If you had any questions on the same, I hope this article offers you the information you were looking for and more.