5
Largest Farm to Grow Crops Under Solar Panels Proves To Be A Bumper Crop For Agrivoltaic Land Use
(site.extension.uga.edu)
this post was submitted on 27 Sep 2023
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Start putting solar canopies over all these goddamn mostly empty parking lots we have everywhere. Completely wasted space otherwise and it’d provide some cover from the rain for people coming and going from their cars.
Or abandon the min parking reqs so developers can build something else there. But also solar panels where we actually need parking space
Most of those minimum parking requirements are based on bullshit anyways.
Yeah, build something other than a parking lot, and put a solar panel on top of that! 🧠
This is one that seriously gets me as to why we don't do this more, it would make so much sense. Obvious benefits are power generation, but also when you consider, it would significantly reduce how scorching hot large carparks get in the sun, depending on the style of the solar canopy being built it could also massively reduce the amount of water flow onto the ground reducing some wear on the tarmac in addition to some hazards.
Also for places like the UK where we typically don't have huge amounts/extended periods of snow, as long as the canopy is sufficiently designed for the additional weight, you could ameliorate the need to salt the car parks, once again increasing the life of the tarmac.
It would also keep people's cars much cooler, in the sun, and make things generally a lot cooler below the canopy.
Plus you'd lower the temperature of the vehicles, reducing air conditioning and decreasing fuel/battery use, which would further decrease emissions
No one ever brings this up, but the heat island effect might be diminished? Not sure how the math works out there.
Possibly? But either way, cooling the panels will increase their service life with a slight net increase in output as well. It should reduce the heating of parking lots by as much of the power it makes.