I feel like starting with parking lots might be better than filling "empty" land though?

rockostrich 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

It really does seem like a no brainer. They should already be close to other infrastructure and they provide shade for parked cars which reduces the energy spent cooling the cars when people drive away. Even if you make very safe assumptions about the total area of parking lots in the US and their sun exposure, the amount of energy they could generate from solar panels on average rivals the current solar output.

▲

declan_roberts 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Plenty of rooftop space for solar.

	▲	KaiserPro an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Yes, but not plenty of support or access to make it practical. its _far_ cheaper to retrofit carparks than it is roofs. generally there is nothing under a carpark apart from tarmac. Unlike a roof which was designed for a specific weather loading (be it wind, rain or snow) You also need to attach the panels to the roof, its generally simpler to bolt into tarmac compared to bonding to a weather proof seal.

▲

Ylpertnodi 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Where i am in the eu, car parks are where its at. Apart from on dirty great field which is being filled with panels for some reason.