In 2019, Bently Motors installed a solar car park at its headquarters in Crewe. The site’s 10,000 solar panels have a capacity of 2.7MW and cover an area of 16,426m².

Installing solar carports in more than half a million suitable parking spaces owned by UK businesses could generate 1.57GW of solar energy.

That is according to research by Norwich-based RenEnergy, a firm that provides renewable energy solutions including solar carports, EV charging stations and solar installations.

The research is evaluating car parks across the UK that could be suitable for solar carports—solar PV canopies that sit above parking spaces. They can provide power to the business or to EV chargepoints installed beneath.

According to the research, the amount of suitable parking spaces it has identified across England and Scotland in golf clubs, hospitals, hotels, airports and sports centres “only scratches the surface”.

As the study continues, RenEnergy said it expects “hundreds of thousands” more spaces to be identified.

Managing director of RenEnergy Damian Baker commented: “If we are going to improve our energy security across the UK and reduce carbon emissions in line with targets, we must look at all of the options available.

“There is untapped power waiting for businesses across the UK in their car parks. They could harness enough energy to cover their electricity needs and even sell energy back to the grid, paying for their investment in the process.”

In France, a 2022 mandate required that car parks with space for at least 80 vehicles be covered by solar panels. The mandate applied to new and existing car parks and allowed car park owners five years to comply with the measures—three years for car parks with over 400 spaces.

The unlocked capacity is expected to be around 11GW – the same figure was given by the BBC as a conservative estimate of the capacity the UK might achieve under similar legislation.

In 2019, Bently Motors installed a solar car park at its headquarters in Crewe. The site’s 10,000 solar panels have a capacity of 2.7MW and cover an area of 16,426m². Along with other installed solar arrays and 6.6MW of battery storage, the car park enables all of Bentley’s manufacturing operations to be powered by solar or certified green energy.

While ground mounted solar PV arrays undergo a long process to receive planning or landowner consent, RenEnergy said solar carports can see approval within eight weeks under permitted development with prior approval. The company said it can then support businesses through getting approval for the District Network Operator (DNO) to secure grid capacity and export.

Companies can make back the cost of installing a solar carport by selling energy back to the grid or through long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs).

Baker added: “We are not taking advantage of the solar energy opportunity that is right in front of us. If businesses are able to find their energy supply in their car park at no extra cost to them, we could see the equivalent energy for hundreds of thousands of homes not needing to come from the grid.”