Are Solar Panels In A Parking Lot Meaningful or Greenwash?

5 Comments

  • Michael Max - 14 years ago

    I'm surprised at you Lloyd...stay in love with the ideals and remember how much you were in favor of our buddy Neville Mars and his fabulous Solar Forest which was a feature here a few months ago...and deservedly so.
    If the subject project doesn't measure up in math/science terms as R.A. suggests then why not intro R.A. and brethren to the likes of Neville and get it right the second or third or fourth time?
    After all, the evil auto is an object of our own desire, one we cannot extinguish...and its massive infrastructure already exists, so why not find
    and perfect solutions that make our evil habits viable?
    Cheers All

  • George Leddy - 14 years ago

    The offset is pointless. It's the double use of the real estate that is meaningful. Parking lots already consume huge swaths of urban land and produce nothing but emissions, reflected heat and insurance claims. But a solar canopy transfers the lot's contribution to the urban heat dome into useful energy. All parking lots and structures should have solar canopies which would also prevent the evil cars from getting too dang hot and reflecting too much shiny light. The plug-in cars that are coming could plug into these and get charged up. So let's do this.

    PS: in winter environments these panels could keep snow and sleet off windshields. They could also produce needed energy in colder places. If designed to look as cool as the heat diversion they provide, we won't ever see an asphalt frying pan again.

  • Rationality Acolyte - 14 years ago

    It's worst than "a drop in the ocean" - it is a hole in the ocean!

    PV solar (when viewed to include manufacturing energy and emissions) generates between 77 and 207 g/kWh - that is multiples of what wind, hydro, or nuclear produces - and it is all up-front (at time of installation) - when it can do the most harm. The only time that this could possibly be environmentally beneficial is when it avoids installing large amounts of wiring and other infrastructure - which is certainly NOT the case in Dell's parking lot. Suitable examples of PV solar would be remote weather stations, maritime buoys, border crossings, etc, where dozens, maybe hundreds, of miles of infrastructure would have to be installed, or diesel generation employed.

    References:
    1. http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2008/03/the-ugly-side-o.html
    2. EC statistics, quotes by Mbendi.com
    3. http://www.e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2085

    Also, the point about the cars is valid - perhaps the money spent on PV lighting would have generated a positive environmental impact through educating employees, or even offering a subsidy for them to change to hybrid or public transport (e.g. subsidising the local bus company to run more frequent or convenient schedules so employees could practically use the system.)

  • Sherri - 14 years ago

    Adding solar panels to parking lots is a win, win - someplace we can place them without an unsettling impact to wildlife, they provide the added benefit of shading cars....all that open space sitting there - it should be mandated for the construction of new parking lots. The LA DWP will be launching Feed-In Tariff: A new program that will enable third-party solar power providers to develop solarphotovoltaic systems on private property and sell the energy to LADWP. How great would it be if all the private businesses with outdoor and roof top parking lots installed solar and sold the power back to the DWP?
    Check out the new DWP solar initiatives at http://www.ladwpsolarnews.com/overview

  • Joe Slocum - 14 years ago

    The statement that comes to mind is something like -- The longest trip begins with a single step --

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