Just got confirmation from my manager that solar panels will be installed at the top floor of our parking garage. There likely will be some EVSE's too.. That would be fantastic. Construction will start soon..
Nice! I wish we could somehow have a national policy that every parking lot/garage generate electricity via solar. They would be especially convenient in Florida because it would shield people from the sun (parking lots get super hot here) and also the rain, which falls every day at certain times of the year.
I guess that it depends a lot of the employers budget.. I work for one of the world's largest financial institution.. For them, putting solar panels on our garage is just a small tax write off for them..
I'd like to see some programs in place that would make it feasible for companies that aren't as financially blessed. Perhaps owned by utility with property owner only receiving structural benefit, not income from generation. Or really, whatever it takes to make it happen. Gas tax, increased debt, I don't really care.
The time it takes for solar to pay for itself is still fairly long. I have considered it for my house but based on my use, it would take 15 years to pay for itself in energy savings. If I'd go with the Battery Solar system, it would take almost 20 years to recover the cost with savings based on my personal use, even with the 30% government assistance.
Solar costs are all over the show. FWIW my 4.5kw system which replaces 60% of our energy use cost $7,000 USD installed, inc 15% sales tax, permits and inspection, and $0 in subsidies. And this is in a country with a relatively small population, so economies of scales doesn't really kick in. At these prices and historically low interest rates, solar returns 3x it's borrowing costs.
I think for larger installations, the costs should be lower per kW than what we can get now at the retail level. Batteries still add a bunch of expense (nice to have, though).
Hopefully the price to store comes down. 10 kWh would do me when I am not parked at home , and with a vehicle to home system I could switch from the standby pack to the 64 + pack in the Kona.
Read through the work newsletter.. There is no timeline but it is confirmed that there will be at least 4 EVSE's on campus. That should be enough for the approx. 10 EV's currently on campus.. Hopefully, they will install them soon..
Looks like they FINALLY started construction on the parking garage to install the solar panels and EVSE's (at least I hope so). When I got to work this morning, the top floor of the garage was all blocked for cars and it's full of construction equipment.. Hopefully, it won't take too long because parking at the office is tight and I'm not sure where all the cars that usually park on the top floor will be parking.. They may have to park off campus.. Consultants have been previously been requested to park their cars off campus once construction begins but I'm not sure how many consultants there are. People who come to the office late may have to park off campus too.. Luckily I get to the office at 6:20 AM and have no issue getting a prime spot every day but I do go out for lunch and I may be out of luck getting a spot in the garage on my way back from lunch... We will see..
Construction is moving along very slowly.. must be Union workers.. Inbetween, my employer has rented some sections of other companies parking lots, so, when our garage fills up, we have to park there.. about a 5 minute walk to the office. They are not just adding the solar panels on top of the garage but also on top of our 3 office buildings in our complex..
Almost 2 months since constructuon started and finally, most of the steel beams for the solar panels on 1/3 of the garage building are up.. This is taking a long time..
They are sparing no expense. The pictures are only of 1/4 of the entire parking garage top deck. They also installed solar panels on the roofs of our 3 office buildings. Florida is really great for solar.. lots of sunshine and long days all year.. My employer is one of the world's largest financial institutions, so, this is pocket change for them. I wonder how many EVSE's they will install. My guess is 2 double port EVSE's as other office locations of my employer usually have 2 EVSE's with 2 ports each. Would be interesting to know what percent of the electric useage of our buildings will be covered by the system. We have 3 5 story office buildings on our campus.. Area circled in red is the part of the garage where they started construction.. Panels will face east..
They finally started putting the panels on the rails today.. Hopefully that means that the first 25% of the parking garage roof will be done soon. Would be nice if they will power up the first section of the solar roof before the entire roof of the garage is done.. I would assume that there will be an EVSE or 2 as part of the first section.