Solar Carport

[vfx]

[youtube]z1WtzpTMoGA[/youtube]

Solar Carport
& Charging Station
Designed, patented, and produced by Merit Builders, the Solar Carport and Charging Station provides a low-cost alternative to solar panel installation when conventional sourcing from an existing rooftop isn't feasible. Our solar collectors laminate directly to traditional metal roofing materials and are ideal for both commercial and residential use. The Charging Station offers the potential of powering nearby buildings or can serve as a charging station for electric-powered vehicles. The carport can be designed to accomodate your specific needs. See this innovative energy producing structure in use at Merit Builders' company headquarters.

 

[TEG]

Related post here...

 

[vfx]

http://www.phatenergy.com/residential_phatport/index.php

The 350 will be capable of supporting a 2.5 kW solar array, which is more than what is needed to fuel an electric car, or make a significant difference in the power needs of a typical home. The PHATport™ 350 can be customized with lights, electrical outlets, EV Chargers, and column design options.

This sounds like making a mistake a "featue"

The PHATport™ 350, like the rest of PHAT Energy’s PHATport™ line, features a unique translucent panel which allows 15% of light to penetrate, providing cool shade in full sun

 

[doug]

This was an interesting discussion particularly on the financing of Solar PVs.
The Future of Solar in California - Forum KQED

Thu, Jul 15, 2010 -- 9:00 AM

The Future of Solar in California
California officials are fighting a move by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to block a major green energy financing program. We find out what this means for homeowners who want to install rooftop solar panels. And with a major international solar conference meeting in San Francisco this week, we talk to experts about the future of the industry in the state.


Download audio (MP3)

Host: Dave Iverson

Guests:
Danny Kennedy, president and co-founder of Sungevity, a Berkeley-based residential solar installation company.
Eicke Weber, director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Germany
Severin Borenstein, professor at U.C. Berkeley's Haas School of Business and co-director of The Energy Institute
Todd Woody, reporter for The New York Times and Los Angeles Times

 

[TEG]

Solar carports: The next commuter fueling stations

 

[vfx]

The white house will be (re) installing Solar panels. Very cool.

By installing the solar panels on the White House, Sutley said the president is underscoring a commitment to "lead, and the promise and importance of renewable energy in the United States."
The solar panel system, which should be installed by next spring, will convert sunlight directly to electricity, while the solar hot water heater will have a solar collector facing the sun to heat water for use in the White House residence. The Energy Department said a competitive procurement process will be used to select the company that will make the installations.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/10/05/white.house.solar.power/index.html

Now about that fleet of cars...

 

[TEG]

http://www.protekparksolar.com/index.shtml

 

[TEG]

http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2010/03/01/story9.html

 

[Mitrovic]

I am thinking of building a solar Carport by my own.
Basically it would be a normal wooden Carport with a roof made of solar panels.
Any ideas or hints or suggestions what you would think would be nice for such a Carport?

 

[Lloyd]

A laminate on a metal roof would look nice, or a power shingle. Check out Unisolar and thier new products.

http://www.uni-solar.com/products/commercial-products/

 

[TEG]

http://www.ecofriend.org/entry/solar-carport-provides-shelter-and-electricity/

http://www.abrisolaire.fr/solaire/caracteristique.html

http://www.affordable-solar.com/solar-carport.htm

http://www.solarsupply.vi/?p=project_solar_carport

http://www.greentechgazette.com/index.php/solar-energy/envision-lifeport-solar-carport-debuts/

http://www.sunpartner.com/

http://www.metaefficient.com/renewable-power/new-product-launch-solar-carport.html

http://www.carportstructures.com/solarcarports.php

 

[Mitrovic]

Thank you for the links!

 

[vfx]

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/24/if-you-build-it-will-they-charge/?emc=eta1

Batteries included.

 

[Mitrovic]

I would add batteries only if I would like fast charging. But for the moment this is not on my wish list. It is also not a public station, it is just for my one and only Roadster.

The solar system I was planing to install has 2,8kW. I guess it can give us through the years an average of 5,5 hours of sun, or very simply calculated 15,4kW a day.

The 54 kW battery pack of the roadster is enough for about 340 Km, so this gives us, again very much simplified 0,15 kW for a kilometer. My daily commute is around 50Km, so this means I would need around 8kW. So, my reasoning is that my system gives more energy then I use! So when I get the model S for my wife, too, there is still sufficient energy to power it, too!

Have I made any serious miscalculations? - I know we have evrywhere some loss, e.g. for the cooling or warming of the battery.

 

[TEG]

...The solar system I was planing to install has 2,8kW. I guess it can give us through the years an average of 5,5 hours of sun, or very simply calculated 15,4kW a day...
Have I made any serious miscalculations?...

Be careful with that simple multiplication. Power production is not uniform during the day, and the panel output figure is a maximum.

A typical daily chart ends up looking something like this:

(depends on time of year, cloud cover, latitude, panel angle, etc.)

[ Does your "5.5 hours" of average sun approximately take into account all those factors? ]

http://www.architecture.uwaterloo.ca/faculty_projects/terri/carbon-aia/case/global/global8.html

 

[TEG]

These kinds of charts are fun and informative:

http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/en/publications/html/FSEC-PF-380-04/

https://www.solio.com/charger/support/solio_solar_europe.html

 

[Mitrovic]

Yes TEG, those 5,5 hours I took from some solar panels site which should describe the simplification for the average for a day for a year in my region.
E.g. theoretically we should have around 10 hours sunshine here, and it is winter!

Of course I can not prove this correct, I would only be able to prove it when I have installed it....

 

[dpeilow]

The official European version of TEG's maps are here: http://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvgis/

A really useful resource.


If I enter Mitrovic's data to their calculator (2.8 kW peak, located in Bern with a fixed but optimised 34 degree slope building-integrated array) it says he can expect 7.30 kWh per day on average. So enough for 15000 km driving per year.

Nominal power of the PV system: 2.8 kW (crystalline silicon)
Estimated losses due to temperature: 12.6% (using local ambient temperature)
Estimated loss due to angular reflectance effects: 2.9%
Other losses (cables, inverter etc.): 14.0%
Combined PV system losses: 27.0%

Fixed system: inclination=34°, orientation=0° (optimum)

Month - Ed, Em
Jan - 3.68, 114
Feb - 5.17, 145
Mar - 7.65, 237
Apr - 8.87, 266
May - 9.19, 285
Jun - 10.20, 305
Jul - 10.70, 332
Aug - 9.96, 309
Sep - 8.56, 257
Oct - 6.22, 193
Nov - 4.12, 124
Dec - 3.23, 100

Yearly average 7.30, 222
Total for year 2670 kWh

Ed: Average daily electricity production from the given system (kWh)
Em: Average monthly electricity production from the given system (kWh)

 

[Mitrovic]

This is really helpful!

On this site I got 2860 for a year for my planed Carport!

This is enough for my Roadster, but I will build a second Carport for the Model S!

Thanks for all the help!

 

[vfx]

http://www.ev4oregon.com/