Amongst all the noisy debate about transitioning towards a green economy, one fact remains constant; the public firmly backs renewable energy, especially solar energy.
In a 2022 survey by Solar Energy UK, 85 per cent of respondents backed renewable energy in general, with the highest levels of support coming from under-35s and people with university educations. Few were opposed, with most of the rest having no particular view.
There is even a Change.org petition calling for the Government to increase in the installation of solar carports and solar panels on commercial rooftops in line with France’s mandate introduced in 2022 to cover carparks with more than 80 spaces.
And solar isn’t just popular with the public. Businesses have been joining forces to influence governments to go net zero by 2050 by setting up initiatives like Climate Group RE100 which has 400 members from the world’s leading corporates.
Transforming dead space into energy
An easy win for the UK would be to copy our French neighbours and introduce a legislative mandate for solar carports.
Research using data from 500 large UK businesses revealed that they could save more than £1.4 billion and 570,000 tonnes of carbon over ten years by installing solar carports.
For the 8,000 large businesses currently operating in the UK, the potential CO2 savings are even more impressive with 9.3 million tonnes annually and 92.6 million tonnes over ten years. These savings are equivalent to taking approximately two million cars off the road or powering around 1.2 million homes annually.
Solar Farms
One of the main arguments against a solar mandate in the UK has been the use of solar farms in the countryside.
Charities such as Campaign for Protection of Rural England (CPRE) say solar farms use up valuable agricultural land which should be used for growing crops.
In addition, solar farms may have negative effects on wildlife habitats of protected species, such as badgers, bats, skylarks and yellow wagtails.
Another main objection is solar farms are often located in the countryside away from areas of high demand in towns and cities which means building expensive infrastructure to transfer energy to areas of high demand.
Other objections include the impact on tourism if people visit the area because of its beauty, or if the solar farm is located near a heritage or an historic site.
Solar Carport Solutions
Carparks are often located in towns and cities near to where most of the UK population live and where energy infrastructure is already present.
By having a solar carport mandate, energy is produced and then used in these areas of high demand without having to build expensive infrastructure or disrupt wildlife.
The beauty of solar carports is that they allow businesses and the public sector to produce their own electricity in an increasingly unstable energy market and sell any excess to the national grid.
Charging stations for extra revenue
While solar carports enable businesses and the public sector to become their own energy companies, they also provide extensive EV charging opportunities to meet the demand for electric vehicles and support the transition to a greener transport infrastructure.
Our research shows solar carports have the capability to charge 166 million EVs annually for large businesses in the UK, and an impressive 1.66 billion EVs over ten years.
The electricity can either be sold onto customers or used as a perk of the job to attract employees.
Why not calculate how much you can save?
Our interactive solar savings calculator shows you how much carbon you can save by using your car parks to generate renewable energy.
We also have a table of how much each sector could potentially save every year. For example, retail and hospitality could save over £40 million and 167,873 tonnes of CO2 while charging over three million cars.
The healthcare sector could potentially save £5.6 million and nearly 24,000 tonnes of CO2 while charging nearly half a million cars.
If you would like to talk to any of experts about potential savings, then please get in touch.
