The government has launched a call for evidence to understand the potential benefits of solar car parks across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The likely result of this will be a mandate that car parks have a solar PV installation, as has been the case in France for some time.
Mandating solar on car parks has multiple benefits, which the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero is keen to emphasise. It says that a mandate would be a “better deal for motorists and businesses”.
The initiative would increase the UK’s solar generation capacity in line with targets for Clean Power 2030 (CP30), as well as offering electricity cost savings to the car park owner.
A solar carport often incorporates EV charging infrastructure, providing additional revenue and meaning only one grid connection agreement is needed.
Future of roads minister Lilian Greenwood explained: “We’re committed to ensuring electric car drivers are always close to a charger and can save money when making the switch.
“Today is another positive example of how we’re harnessing the net zero transition to give drivers more choice and help them get around with greater peace of mind.”
DESNZ cites estimates that supermarkets, retail parks and offices could save up to £28,000 annually by installing solar carports (this figure calculated for an 80-space car park—the size that France mandates must be covered by solar PV) if all of the electricity generated by the solar array was used onsite. The call for evidence seeks additional evidence of the benefits of such an initiative.
In France, the scheme has been estimated to enable the installation of 11GW of additional solar capacity.
Options like selling energy back to the grid and long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) are areas that the department indicates could be relevant benefits.
The benefits of solar car parks was explored in the last edition of Current±’s EV Infrastructure Report, in an article titled ‘The untapped potential of Solar and Storage EV charging’.
In 2019, Bentley Motors installed a solar car park at its headquarters in Crewe. In both the article mentioned above and DESNZ’s call for evidence, the project is cited for its successful demonstration of the value of solar car parks.
The site’s 10,000 solar panels have a capacity of 2.7MW and cover an area of 16,426m². Along with other installed solar arrays and 6.6 MW of battery energy storage, the car park enables all of Bentley’s manufacturing operations to be powered by solar or certified green energy.
