Did you know that UK businesses could save more than £1.4 billion and 570,000 tonnes of carbon over ten years by turning their carparks into solar energy?
This is just one staggering statistic revealed by our research into how much potential there is across the UK for businesses, schools and hospitals to create their own energy by installing solar carports like our French neighbours.
And to help businesses across the UK work out their return on investment (ROI), we developed an easy-to-use interactive Solar Savings Index calculator.
We collected data on the estimated number of car park spaces for 500 large businesses across the country, annual sunlight hours for different UK regions and current business electricity rates.
From this data we were then able to calculate the financial, carbon and energy savings that the UK could be making if solar carports were installed.
We also dug deeper into the data providing customised recommendations for a wide range of businesses from oil and gas, banking, insurance and mining as well as retail and hospitality and organisations like hospitals and schools by taking into account sunlight hours depending on location.
In addition, we analysed the potential number of EV charges a solar carport installation could provide, depending on the number of carpark spaces a company or organisation has, and developed our Solar Savings calculator.
If you think about it, most carparks are wasted resources, sometimes lying empty at weekends or during the week when they could be turned into electricity-generating powerhouses.
So, if you install a solar carport, you’re not only saving money on your electricity bills but helping to reduce your carbon footprint.
You can calculate ROI, financial returns, carbon savings and estimated number of EV charges with our Solar Savings Index calculator.
While solar roof panels may be less expensive, they won’t generate as much electricity as solar carports.
Solar roof panels are often limited by the amount of available and suitable space and the roof’s strength, orientation and design whereas covering a carpark in solar carports has none of these obstacles.
In fact, solar carport capacity can be double, treble or quadruple compared to roof solar panels so while there is a longer payback, you will receive better value for your money over the long term.
Many companies and organisations often talk about reducing their emissions but by installing solar carports you are making a bold statement about your commitment to any sustainability initiatives to reach net zero.
It sends a powerful message to all your customers, stakeholders and staff, boosting their loyalty and generating positive marketing messages for the company or organisation, helping to boost profits.
Also, the frames we use on solar carports can be recycled and reused helping your sustainability ratings.
If we’re to get to net zero by 2050, then the UK needs to massively ramp up its EV charging capacity and infrastructure.
Our research shows that solar carports with EV capacity could charge a potential 166 million electric vehicles a year for large businesses, 1.66 billion over ten years.
Solar carports can be easily fitted with EV charge points, providing you with the opportunity to bring in extra income from charging customers to speed up ROI or to provide cheap energy to employees.
Once you use our Solar Savings Index calculator, we provide you with a Solspan Discovery Report which details expected carbon and financial savings, illustrated with graphs showing your estimated power output.
We offer two types of feasibility studies including a desktop report and an onsite report which will include a site visit.
If you’d like to find out more about how much solar carports can save you, please get in touch.