On a clear day at noon in the temperate zone, there’s about a kilowatt – 1000 watts – of energy falling on every square foot of open ground. A free kilowatt, if you could capture it. Of course, energy harvesting technology isn’t totally efficient: most photovoltaic solar panels only output usable electricity equal to about 15% of the energy that falls on them. Even so, if you harvested the sunlight from an average parking space, 162 sf, you could produce about 24 kilowatts. Generating that kind of energy without burning any fossil fuels could save some nice money, and reduce some nasty pollution.
If your solar panels were eight feet off the ground, you could park your car under them to keep it cool, too. And if you happened to own a large parking lot, and solar-paneled all the spaces, you’d have it “made,” so to speak: a sizeable financial resource, a large environmental benefit, and covered parking.
That was the kind thinking that made Dell Loy Hansen, primary owner of the Real Salt Lake Major League Soccer team, decide to put solar carports on the parking lot of Rio Tinto Stadium.
Related Stories
| Jun 25, 2012
Living green wall planned for InterContinental Chicago
Project, with price tag of $2 million to $3 million, needs council approval.
| Jun 19, 2012
Energy and Commerce Departments Announce New Centers for Building Operations Excellence
Part of Better Buildings Initiative, Centers Will Focus on Energy Efficiency Workforce Development for Building Operations Professionals
| Jun 13, 2012
Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute to hold energy asset conference for property owners, senior real estate managers
Top-level real estate professionals have been ignored as the industry has pushed to get sustainability measures in place.
| Jun 11, 2012
Historic church gains energy efficiency, retains aesthetics with architecturally rated windows
New windows would need to not only stand the test of time, but also accommodate the aesthetics of an architecturally historic church.
| Jun 11, 2012
SimplexGrinnell highlights integrated suite of web-based technologies at NFPA Expo
eservices platform uses the power of the Internet to deliver more value to customers.
| Jun 8, 2012
Thornton Tomasetti/Fore Solutions provides consulting for renovation at Tufts School of Dental Medicine
Project receives LEED Gold certification.
| Jun 7, 2012
Stantec publishes 2011 corporate Sustainability Report
Stantec's fifth annual Sustainability Report was prepared in accordance with the internationally recognized G3.1 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, developed by the Global Reporting Initiative.
| Jun 6, 2012
SOM urges Chicago tenants to partner with landlords to cut energy use
Tenants can exceed building energy challenge targets recently announced by Mayor Emanuel.
| Jun 1, 2012
New BD+C University Course on Insulated Metal Panels available
By completing this course, you earn 1.0 HSW/SD AIA Learning Units.
| Jun 1, 2012
AIA 2030 Commitment Program reports new results
The full report contains participating firm demographics, energy reduction initiatives undertaken by firms, anecdotal accounts, and lessons learned.