British firm markets carports for parking lots

car parked under a solar carportSOURCE: Wired Autopia

A British firm, Romag, has created a carport topped with photovoltaic cells that can charge an EV. Romag says the PowerPark is perfect for parking lots.

The first PowerPark has been installed at the company’s headquarters, and Romag says additional installations are planned around the United Kingdom.

“Interest has been received from supermarket chains, schools, airports, train stations, hospitals [and] commercial office buildings in the U.K., Middle East and Far East,” Kevin Webster, the company’s technical director, told Wired.com. “The U.S. would be an excellent market for the canopy.”

Even in misty, foggy Northern England, the company estimates each parking space could generate about 1,100 kilowatt hours of electricity annually.

The canopies are linked to the electric grid so energy “can be generated for use in the associated buildings when cars are not being charged,” Webster said. “No electricity is wasted.”

For more, go to:
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/03/solar-carport-g/

(SCD.COM Newswire summary posted 8-17-09)