Covering large parking lots with solar panels is an idea that goes back decades but in America at least it’s an idea that has never really taken off.
What is the reason for that? Is it due to the overall cost or is there something else that keeps Walmart, Target, Costco, Sams Club, Malls, etc. from covering their parking lots with these panels and selling the power?
Installing and maintaining solar panels costs a lot. Perhaps the businesses found that not profitable.
In Hong Kong, we have a “install solar panels on your roof” project, and the electricity company buys the power you generate at approx. 5x market price. It sounds great at first, but people quickly realized installation and maintenance cost so much, you can only get back what you paid for after 10 years.
This may not be relevant to the discussion because we are talking about big space, and HK houses are small area-wise.
Another way to look at it: It used to be 20-25 years, so 10 is probably the best it’s ever been for ROI.
Isn’t 10 years around the expected lifetime of a panel?
They’re usually rated 20-25, but I think I read recently that some are still producing useful power after that.
Read an article on an early adopter that had over 30 year panels. They reported it was still producing around 70% of its original rated power.