There are over 17,000 parking facilities in the UK and the sector generates £1.5 billion per year (BPA, 2015).

Installing photovoltaic (PV) systems on surface and multi-storey car parks to generate renewable energy is becoming increasingly popular as the area above a car park is an otherwise unexploited brownfield site.

Multifunctional solar carports can add value to car parks by improving economic and environmental performance, especially where the car park is not suitable for building mounted PV.

Such added value is derived from:

• Generation of renewable energy
• Availability of covered parking spaces
• Availability of electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities
• Provision of renewable energy to adjacent developments
• Onsite energy storage

As the UK Government seeks to include more renewable energy in the energy mix, solving problems associated with intermittent renewable generation will become more imperative due to the capacity issues in our electricity distribution network. Low-carbon solutions which balance electricity supply and demand are required to achieve this, and multifunctional solar car parks can be part of this solution.

Multifunctional solar car parks can provide a number of revenue streams in addition to power sales and other benefits offered by a renewable energy source. However, when preparing a business case, consideration should also be given to operation, maintenance, and security requirements, especially in areas susceptible to vandalism.