“Driving” change in solar
Solar canopies in outdoor car parks in France are a common sight. No surprises there – regulation requires them. Plus, it is surely a “no brainer”: using under-utilised airspace to generate renewable energy (and potentially income), often in areas that have high energy demand – including for electric vehicle charging points.
Now, as my colleague Alexandra Townsend-Wheeler reported last week, we are perhaps one step closer to more solar canopies in UK car parks. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has launched a consultation on:
(1) Mandating solar canopy installation on new outdoor car parks, and
(2) Deploying canopies on existing car parks above a certain size.
As the consultation acknowledges and Alexandra explores, whilst there is opportunity (including for investors, the prospect of squeezing greater returns from their assets), there is also a plethora of potential barriers to implementation – costs, supporting infrastructure, planning etc.
With those challenges in mind, surely the greatest potential in the short term is new car parks? Take the owner/ occupier/ operator challenge, which is typically encountered in efforts to retrofit existing buildings with rooftop solar. Much easier to incorporate on day 1, in a new build, and before establishing occupational arrangements. Surely the same will apply here?
That said, making this mandatory – do I think the Government has the stomach to see this regulation through, at any time in the immediate future? As Alexandra says, “this will require a considerable amount of commitment and support from the government to make it work”, and I agree. So, in answer to that question and taking many years working in this area into account – disappointingly, no. But I’d love them to prove me wrong.
Subcribe to news and viewsBy installing solar canopies, we can harness their untapped surface area for renewable energy generation – making much more effective use of the land – while providing a new revenue stream for owners at the same time.
