Solar Carport Mounting System: Simplified and Economical Solutions

As electric vehicles progressively replace conventional vehicles, solar carport becomes more popular, not only because it can provide shade to our cars, but also because it can generate electricity and charge for electric vehicles.

As one of the most perfect ways to combine photovoltaic and architecture, the solar carport has been favored by people in recent years. It is widely used in residential and commercial buildings. We can see it in family, hospital, school, factory and business district, etc.

Common Scenarios for Photovoltaic Carports

Residential Solar Canopy

The scale of residential solar carport is often relatively small, generally only one or two parking spaces, and most people who will install residential solar canopy are owners of EVs, since they can use them as a parking spot and a charging station. Also, some homeowners who do not want to install solar panels on the roof or on the ground should not beexcluded-either because they don't want to destroy their roof, or because they want the maintenance easier, in these situations, a solar carport installation is an excellent option.

Commercial PV Carport

Commercial buildings such as malls, supermarkets, shopping centers and electric vehicle charging stations have seen an increasing number of PV carports.

Compared to residential solar canopy, commercial PV carport has many features as follows:

1. Based on the property's unique location and size, the commercial solar carport system needs to be custom designed.
2. It often has a large scale and turns an underutilized space into a financial benefit.
3. Payback period of 5 to 20 years.
4. The target return on investment for a cash purchase is approximately 10%-20% per year.
5. Commercial carport solar provides consumers and their vehicles with valuable protection against the sun, rain, snow, and ice.

Advantages of commercial solar carport:

1. Reduce your business operating costs.
2. Solar carport system gives you a great return on investment.
3. Sustainability benefits.
4. Provide shading for vehicles.
5. More value for aesthetics.

Solar panels are mounted on top of the carport, which looks like a normal carport from the outside, to protect the vehicle from the sun and rain. Many solar carports also come with in-built electric vehicle (EV) charging stations so that drivers can top up their batteries when not using their cars.

So How Much Does a Solar Panel Carport Cost?

A solar panel canopy is mainly composed of solar carport mounting systems, solar panels, solar inverters, charging devices and wires, etc. 

For aluminum commercial solar carport structure, the price is range from $1.2-1.8/watt on Alibaba. And the price will be different depending on your quantity and material.

For the panels, which range from $0.19-0.26/watt for 530w 540w monocrystalline solar panels (Alibaba).

Please note that this price is only for your reference. If you want a detailed quotation based on your carport, you can contact us, and we will quote for you within 1 day if you provide your project information as specific as possible.

The Benefits of PV Carports

Is a residential or commercial solar carport worth it? You can refer to their advantages and disadvantages below:

Advantages of Photovoltaic Carports

1. Reduced power costs: owners can generate their own clean electricity on site instead of buying power from the utility company to reduce power costs. In addition, they can also sell extra electricity to get more money.
2. Make full use of the space: install solar panels on solar carport is a perfect way to make full use of the valuable real estate.
3. Good for vehicles: further to producing electricity for their owners, solar carports also offer protection from extremely weather like rain, snow, sun, and wind, etc., helping to prolong the useful lifetimes of the vehicle's underneath.
4. Provide EV-Charging: by integrating with the EV charging solution, the solar carport can not only shade our vehicles, but also charge our electric vehicles. This is very convenient for owners of EVs.
5. Bring more investment benefits

Disadvantages of Photovoltaic Carports

1. The initial cost of installing a solar carport is higher than installing the same-size rooftop or ground-mounted solar system
2. Space requirement
3. Maintenance cost

To learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of PV carports click here.

Conclusion

The advantages can easily outweigh the disadvantages. Many organizations choose to integrate lighting and electric vehicle charging stations to provide even more convenience and security. So, take all these factors into account, if you are valuating your installation option, you may decide that solar carports provide a positive impact that goes well beyond long-term energy savings.