Covering large parking lots with solar panels is an idea that goes back decades but in America at least it’s an idea that has never really taken off.
What is the reason for that? Is it due to the overall cost or is there something else that keeps Walmart, Target, Costco, Sams Club, Malls, etc. from covering their parking lots with these panels and selling the power?
Making the panels high enough off the ground with sparse enough supports to be convenient adds a lot of expense. I mainly see it in paid parking lots where the shade can be sold as a value add.
The supports also need to withstand being rammed by drunks in dodge rams.
I think Target and McDonald’s have figured out the solution to that: surround the supports with concrete pillars.
You underestimate the power of the Dodge Ram
That ain’t a bollard, them giant concrete balls outside of target, now thems are bollards
Bollards is the word for that.
Maybe if they are moveable, they can dodge the ramming.
There’s an rei that does it near me, and it looks like they also save money on plowing in the winter. The spots don’t really get snow because of the cover, and the aisles are generally passable because traffic