This study investigates the energy related aspects of developing electric vehicle (EV) charging stations powered with solar photovoltaic (PV) canopies built on the parking infrastructure of large-scale retailers. A technical analysis is performed on parking lot areas located in the highest EV market coupled with charge station rates and capacities of the top ten EV. The results of a case study show a potential of 3.1 MW per Walmart Supercenter in the U.S., which could provide solar electricity for ∼100 EV charging stations. In the entire U.S., Walmart could potentially deploy 11.1GW of solar canopies over only their Supercenter parking lots providing over 346,000 EV charging stations with solar electricity for their customers covering 90% of the American public living within 15 miles of a Walmart. This novel model could be adopted by any box store with the solar electricity sold for EV charging at a profit solving community charging challenges. In addition, however, the results for the first time indicate store owners could increase store selection and profit by providing free PV-EV charging for their customers with four mechanisms. Overall the results of this study are promising, but future work is needed to provide more granular quantification of the benefits of this approach.
- Solar kiosks and parking lot awnings literature review
- Economic Impact of Installing PV rooftop systems in Walmart Parking lots - Literature review
Highlights[edit | edit source]
- Investigates electric vehicle (EV) charging stations + solar photovoltaic (PV) parking lot canopies.
- Potential 3.1 MW PV and 100 EV charging stations per US Walmart Supercenter.
- Entire U.S., Walmart could deploy 11.1GW of solar canopies.
- Supercenter parking lot PV provide electricity for over 346,000 EV charging stations.
- Cover 90% of the American public with solar-EV charging living within 15 miles of a Walmart.
Keywords[edit | edit source]
distributed generation; parking lot; photovoltaic; solar canopy; solar; electric vehicle; electric vehicle charging; solar canopy; solar parking lot
See also[edit | edit source]
- Performance and analysis of retail store‐centered microgrids with solar photovoltaic parking lot, cogeneration, and battery‐based hybrid systems
- Technical Solar Photovoltaic Potential of Scaled Parking Lot Canopies- A Case Study of Walmart U.S.A.
- Open-source Photovoltaic - Electrical Vehicle Carport Designs
- Power and energy potential of mass-scale photovoltaic noise barrier deployment- A case study for the U.S.
- Using LiDAR to assess rooftop solar photovoltaic potential on a large scale
- Shading losses in solar photovoltaic potential at the municipal scale
- Estimating the rooftop PV potential of a large-scale geographical region
- An open source simulation of photovoltaic yield with r.sun over large regions
- Automated quantification of solar photovoltaic potential in cities
In the News[edit | edit source]
- Why Don't We Cover Every Parking Lot with Solar Panels? CNET
- Why Not Cover Ugly Parking Lots With Solar Panels? Wired, Wired UK, Wired Italy
- New French law will blanket parking lots with solar panels Washington Post, Financial Post
- New French law will blanket parking lots with solar panels Energy Now
- Stat of the Week 11 Gigawatts New Republic
- Opinion/Solutions: New French law will blanket parking lots with solar panels The Atlanta Constitution Journal
- Solarna parkirališta su energetska ideja koja pobjeđuje. Zašto onda nisu norma? Automania
- Avances en generación eléctrica solar el Naional
- New French Law Blankets Parking Lots with Solar Panels Electrical Industry Canada
- [1] Energy Now
- Why your community’s next solar panel project should be above a parking lot Popular Science
- Le tettoie solari per parcheggi rafforzano la rete elettrica Ultimenotinizie
- Zdecydowali się wprowadzić obowiązkowe panele nad parkingami. W całym kraju Smoglab
- 11Gigawatts - The New Republic
- The Benefits of Installing Solar Panels in Parking lots Solar Yes International
- People Fixing The World - Surprising solar BBC (radio)
- How to fight climate change with parking lots Vox
- If Cities Are Going To Be Packed With Parking Lots, They Should All Have Solar Canopies Jalopnik
- Gizmodo
- Secular Times
- Kidz Search
- Solarna parkirališta su energetska ideja koja pobjeđuje. Zašto onda nisu norma? Automania