If we look at an urban landscape surely we could find enough sites to cover them with solar panels and thus reduce the energy expenditure that a city already produces. We have seen in these different months initiatives such as the 'wind tree' that allows integration into the urban environment going almost unnoticed and at the same time that it has an electricity supply such as renewable energy.
Another of the urban spaces where solar panels could be integrated They would be the car parks themselves. Large surfaces have a good space for this, apart from the fact that in a recent study carried out in the United States it has been known that 35 to 50 percent of the space for cities is made up of street pavement. And, 40% of this pavement is destined for parking lots.
It must be expected that placing a solar panel in an area where it is surrounded by asphalt pavement gives it a greater effect on energy absorption. Asphalt and concrete also absorb solar energy, retaining heat which contributes to a very curious heat effect.
So if there was a way to eliminate that heat that the asphalt producesCooling the vehicles that park in these areas, supplying power to electric cars and generating a lot of energy, surely that would be something splendid in itself. Well, there is a technology that does all this and which is called 'solar carports' or 'solar canopies'.
It's just how it sounds a parking lot is covered with a lot of solar panels, which are raised high enough for cars to take advantage of the given shade. Depending on the size of the car park, it can generate a lot of energy. In an 11 hectare facility it would produce 8 megawatts of energy, or enough energy to power 1000 homes.
The only handicap it has is its excessive cost. Although it must be counted on that the installation of a canopy of this type has seen its cost reduced compared to previous years, which is allowing large companies to acquire them and take them to their own car parks.