<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/solar-car-parks-australias-great-untapped-pv-potential/>
"Australia has become a world leader in the uptake of rooftop solar PV, but one
of the assets that remains largely untouched are outdoor car parks.
A new study from the ANU suggests there are about 40,000 outdoors parking
locations with more than 80 car spaces, and if just 60 per cent of this area
was covered with solar panels that would come to 12.3 gigawatts (GW) of
capacity and generate 34 terawatt hours (TWh) a year.
“The potential of solar in parking lots remains largely untapped,” says ANU
researcher Dr Shahid Ali.
“Transforming car parks by roofing them with solar panels keeps cars cool,
preserves undeveloped land for other purposes, and generates significant
revenue from electricity sales.
“Moreover, on-site solar power could seamlessly support EV charging stations,
allowing customers to charge their vehicles.”
By the end of September, Australians had bought 69,962 new EVs in the year to
date, up from 65,753 sold over the same period in 2023.
The concept for the research actually sprang out of what big industrial
emitters can do to switch to renewables, Ali told
Renew Economy.
Conversations with these organisations revealed the only locations for solar
panels would be rooftops and car parks, as much of the sites need to be kept
clear. But digging deeper, Ali found little policy support for the concept.
“What we have seen is there is no policy at government level. They need to
realise how much space is available across Australia and how much energy could
be produced,” he says.
“There are a lot more spaces that could potentially be converted. And given the
electric vehicle numbers coming into the market now, we believe it will be
essential to create new sources of electricity to power them.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
