Generation over the car park, not just the roof

Car ports come into their own where the roof is unsuitable, already full, or does not belong to you. A car park is often the largest unused area on a commercial site, and it is at ground level with clear access.

The structure is the cost. A car port carries its own frame, foundations and drainage, so cost per kilowatt is meaningfully higher than a rooftop array on a building that could have taken one.

The offsetting benefits are real: covered parking, a visible statement of intent to visitors and staff, and a natural place to put EV charging where the vehicles already are.

Foundations depend on ground conditions, so a site investigation is part of the design rather than an optional extra. Existing services beneath the car park frequently dictate where columns can go.

Planning permission is usually required, since a car port is a new structure. Height, appearance, drainage, lighting and the effect on parking capacity are all matters the authority will consider.

Expect to lose some spaces to columns, and to need a marking and circulation plan. It is better to establish that at feasibility than to discover it after the design is committed.

A car port and charge points are a natural combination, because the generation is directly above the vehicles and the cabling infrastructure is being installed anyway. Solar rarely charges a vehicle unit for unit, but it reduces the site's net import while cars are plugged in.

Install containment and cable routes for more charge points than you need on day one. The civils are the expensive part and doing them twice is avoidable.

Charging adds load, so the capacity assessment covers generation and demand together rather than treating them as separate projects.

Car port arrays are usually unshaded and can be oriented well, which helps yield. Watch for shading from adjacent buildings and mature trees, which is more likely at ground level than on a roof.

Drainage needs designing in. Water shed from a large canopy has to go somewhere that does not create a hazard or a puddle across the parking bays.

Lighting under the canopy is worth including from the start, both for security and because retro fitting it into a completed structure is awkward.

Because the structure carries cost, car ports usually show a longer payback than an equivalent rooftop array. They are chosen when the roof is not available, or when the parking, charging and visibility benefits are valued alongside the energy.

Funding routes are the same as for rooftop solar: purchase, asset finance or a power purchase agreement. The longer payback makes the terms of any finance more influential on the outcome.

On leased sites, settle ownership, landlord consent and end of lease arrangements before design, since a permanent structure raises questions a rooftop array does not.