John Frederick of Poly-Tex gives his insight to the solar carport market and we dive even deeper
Carports and parking lot have long been underutilized assets. Property owners now have the opportunity to provide a better carport and parking lot service as well as generate electricity that may be used or sold.
Panels may provide shade for parked vehicles in the summer, and prevent snow from sliding off the panels onto pedestrians and vehicles in the winter. More vehicle plug-in spots can accommodate the increasing number of electric vehicles on the road. And the solar carports can provide all the electricity needed.
The benefits, overall, increase the value of the property. However, the distribution of electricity back to the grid will also increase the NOI of the property. Either that, or, the electricity can be used to offset to-be-incurred electricity costs.
The market potential here is huge. There are an estimated 2 Billion parking spots in the US (CityLab 2010). With the average parking spot totaling 180 square feet (Streetsblog 2016), which equates to 360 Billion square feet market potential.
At 0.015k W/hr per square foot (Solar Estimator), and while considering the 360 Billion square feet market potential, solar has the potential to generate over 5 Billion kW/hr in US parking lots.
John Frederick, VP of sales and marketing for Poly-Tex talks more on this subject in a SPW interview.
What is Poly-Tex Solar’s background?
Poly-Tex has been in business for over 30 years. The company’s historical (and current) product lines include greenhouses and shade structures. Solar carports looked like a natural fit for our engineering and manufacturing capabilities so we started addressing these solar structures several years ago.
What type of solar canopies/carports do you produce?
Poly-Tex provides a number of different designs that cover rows of single or double parking spaces. We also have designs that can cover an entire parking lot including the driving lanes.
What type of customer generally looks into solar carports?
Carports are becoming more popular nationwide. Many retail and commercial business owners are looking to make their commitment to sustainability more visible to the public. They may also have rooftops that aren’t well suited to solar, and carports are a good alternative. Cities are becoming more interested in putting solar on underutilized assets such as public parking lots and parking garages.
What are the pros and cons of single cantilevers and dual cantilevers?
A single cantilever carport is used to cover a single row of parking stalls. A dual cantilever carport is used to cover two rows of parking stalls. Typically a dual cantilever carport will be more cost effective.
What are the installation requirements with tilted plane arrays?
For parking lot applications, the installation requirements are similar to other types of carport structures. The biggest difference comes from the ability to also cover the drive lanes (as well as the parking stalls) with solar panels. This allows a developer to maximize the amount of solar production on a particular parking lot or garage.
How do you handle foundations in parking garage installations?
Parking garage installations are unique because the vertical supports for the carport structure must align with the support structure for the parking garage. This typically requires a 60- to 70-ft clear span distance. Poly-Tex created the Tri-Plane Truss design to cost effectively address the long clear span requirements. Poly-Tex’s modular approach (no individual component is over 25-ft long) reduces crane operation time and addresses potential garage weight restrictions.
What trends are you seeing with carport installations?
We are seeing a trend to cover the entire parking lot or garage with solar panels. This provides better protection for vehicles and better economics for the project. This does drive the need for longer spans to accomplish this.
