Parking lot solar

[nwhiker]

Let's get it done. I say this after getting soaked walking from my car across the gigantic Costco parking lot, LOL. Even some shelter would be better than none!

Watch on YouTube

See this post of mine.

Comments

[camelsamba]

This reminds me that I asked Zane about parking lot solar when we saw him a few weeks ago. He said "I agree, put solar in every parking lot" but then also made many of the same points in this video (e.g. it's not done now because of cost). The company he works for (a) does utility scale projects (most urban parking lots wouldn't have enough acreage) and also (b) is VC funded. Seems to me if some VCs wanted to start a company with a mission to do parking lot solar, it would happen! And sheesh, if corporate-scallywag Walmart is doing it, I'm surprised Costco isn't!

The video made some point about opposition to adding transmission lines in rural areas. Z's company uses proximity to existing transmission lines in their siting, but I also know that there's big regulatory issues and lots of $$ that come with getting a project onto the grid. I know this because of a Planet Money episode I heard back in May or June:
https://www.npr.org/2023/05/16/1176462647/green-energy-transmission-queue-power-grid-wind-solar
I wonder if the smaller scale parking lot projects avoid all those hoops?