solution
Solar Car Shades
Integrated Solutions to
Elevate Your Facilities
Solar car shades are an innovative and sustainable way for businesses to optimise their carparks. They provide protection from the elements, reduce carbon emissions and energy costs, and enhance the everyday experience of staff and customers.
Designed to add durable visual value, Smart solar car shades can also feature integrated EV chargers, which are fast becoming a must-have for modern workplaces and destinations.
At Smart, we're committed to delivering solutions that add tangible value to your property. Through our partnerships with industry-leading suppliers, we ensure the highest quality outcomes tailored to your specific needs.
Why Install Solar Car Shades?
Savings
Enjoy significant savings on electricity costs during daylight hours thanks to the energy generated by your solar car shade.
More Solar
Increase your capacity for solar PV when roof space is insufficient to accommodate your energy demands.
ESG
Solar car shades contribute to reducing carbon emissions and advancing sustainability goals.
Brand Perception
As a more visible sustainability measure, solar car shades raise awareness of your clean energy initiatives and provide social benefit to those who use them for shelter and charging.
Property Value
Add value to your property when you install cutting-edge sustainable infrastructure. High durability and minimal maintenance make solar car shades a sound investment.
EV Chargers
EV Chargers can easily be integrated into solar car shade structures. The enclosed, secure design protects charging technology from weather and damage.
STRUCTURE TYPES
Customisable Designs to Suit Your Space
Single Row Parking
For businesses or workplaces with limited parking space, a single-row solar car shade can maximise parking capacity while integrating solar power generation. It allows businesses to offer covered parking with the added benefit of renewable energy production.
Nose to Nose
This setup optimises the exposure of solar panels to sunlight. This arrangement ensures that a larger surface area of solar panels is consistently exposed to sunlight throughout the day, maximising the electricity generation capacity of the solar car shade.
East-West
East-west orientation allows the solar panels on the shades to capture sunlight effectively throughout the day. This orientation maximises exposure to the morning and evening sunlight, which can enhance the overall energy production compared to a fixed south-facing setup.
Solar Car Shade Case Study:
Breaker's Country Club
Solar car shades - procured through a Power Purchase Agreement - helped Breakers improve their club's aesthetics, provide comfort and convenience to patrons and lock in affordable energy pricing with $0 upfront.
"We wanted to make sure we could budget what our power costs would be for the coming years. This project is in line with our ongoing commitment to becoming more sustainable."
Ken Pearson
CEO - Breakers Country Club
Solar Car Shade Insights
FROM THE BLOG: Our experts analyse the benefits, maintenance requirement, and future potential of solar car shade structures.
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Read the BlogYour Solar Car Shade FAQs
What are my financial options and how does it affect the value of my premises or business?
Funding options are available for solar car shade projects, including Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and specialty financing.
In terms of property value, investing in durable, visually appealing infrastructure which modernises and adds amenity to your property is typically a sound investment for the future.
Does rain cause issues with the solar panels or flood the car park?
Can we make money from the electricity that the solar panels produce?
Potentially, although realistically you're more likely to save (rather than make) money from your solar investment, given current feed-in tariffs (FIT). It is possible for power to be fed into the embedded network or microgrid of your solar car shades to generate a financial return.
If you're planning to integrate 'pay-per-use' EV charging into your solar car shade structure, you should also consider the additional income this may provide.
Talk to our experts today for more detailed information.
Does a solar car park structure impact the number of available parking spaces?
No. Our designs ensure there are no intrusions into the available car-parking space by your solar car shade structure, which means businesses typically retain the same number of spaces after project completion.
Do you have to use specific PV panels on the solar car parks?
No - almost all types of solar panels can be utilised for our designs. As with all Smart projects, we take an equipment-agnostic approach to designing solar car shade systems to ensure the best materials representing the best value are included in your structure.