Plan To Harness Car Parks As Solar Energy Farms

A plan in Scotland to harness the usage of car parks to power around 60,000 has been developed according to research.

More than 90,000 car parking spaces across Scotland could be converted into “solar carports” to power up the country with green energy, experts have said.  Clean power specialists RenEnergy said harnessing the “untapped” solar potential of car parks could produce enough energy to power 60,000 homes a year.

The idea is looking at car parking facilities at sites like hotels, airports, stadiums, retail parks and sports centres as locations for solar carports.  The solar panels would be placed above the car park spaces on solar PV panel canopies - a system that already exists in some cities in Europe.  It is estimated that more than half a million parking spaces across the UK, could be used to harness solar power with solar panel installation helping to make them receptacles for green energy.

Research into the green energy solution is still ongoing but it could be seen as the ideal way to use solar panels for reducing energy bills for homes and businesses across the country.  Solar panel installation in car parks in countries such as France and Slovenia is already taking place and installing solar panels is a feature of any new car park which features more than 80 spaces. 



To read the full article in the Daily Record, click here.