What Exactly Is A Solar Carport?
What exactly is a solar carport and what makes solar carports unique is that the roof which gives you the protection of a carport is actually solar panels. It is quite different from installing solar panels on an existing carport which already has a built in roof. In almost all cases, the roof of a ‘standard’ carport will not be strong enough or have the correct engineering to support a solar array. Solar carports are specifically made to include solar panels in their structure. The panels themselves are a dual-purpose solution for both covering your vehicle and for producing clean energy.
Solar carports are basically the same ground mounted solar panels but on a much higher structure; high enough so that a vehicles can fit underneath the panels.
Benefits of Solar Carports
The main advantage of having a solar carport is that it gives you flexibility in the way that you can arrange your solar panel project. Installing solar panels on a rooftop can have many variables that may limit where the panels can be installed.
Your solar carport can be built anywhere within your property maximising a north-facing aspect to ensure very efficient power generation. Your home may not be able to take all the solar panels that you want to install. Having a solar carport increases the opportunity to generate more free electricity. Also, as the panels can have free-flowing air around them, they will be more efficient as they generally stay much cooler than roof-installed panels which lose efficiency as they become hotter with radient heat off the roof.
Obviously the positioning of your solar panels and the angle at which they are facing the sun, impacts on the amount of energy produced. A solar carport can be installed to optimize the your solar panels in a way that can’t always be done on a rooftop solar system.
Once your solar carport is installed, it is usually integrated with your home power or home power system. A Battery can be added or you can set up a charging station for your EV.
The electricity being produced by your solar carport is just like any other solar energy — it can be used in your home, stored in a battery, exchanged for credits in the grid, or funneled into your EV battery. A solar carport can give a significant amount of flexibility over how you use your solar energy.