What would be better to cover parking lots, trees or solar panels?

This is a view of Adelaide, where I live, well actually I live a little out of shot to the left.

You might notice there are a lot of trees and I like this about Adelaide.

This is another city, where have all the trees gone?

I know which one I find more appealing.

I have about 15 trees over 5 metres high, that is higher than my house on my block and lots of smaller trees and shrubs. I love my trees and I don't like looking at roofs or barren car parks.

 

Solar Suspension Systems

 

San Diego plants trees in the easement between the road and sidewalk everywhere. There are more in other areas. But all must be watered. We're an arid area. And...land is at a premium. To plant trees in the midst of all of the rows of a parking lot would require both irrigation and would lose considerable parking space. To put the Solar Grove over the parking lots wouldn't lose that many spaces. And there would still be trees surrounding the lot, and in the easements. Some streets even have them in the median.

Trees to offer their own danger too. A woman was killed in her car driving down the freeway by a tree that fell on her. It was because we had had so much rain the ground couldn't hold the tree and it just fell over. It was in the three mile scenic drive on 163 south through Balboa Park, which has a LOT of trees. Some of them have been removed. Then there was the huge tree branch that just broke off a big Ficus in Balboa Park and totaled three cars. At least no one was in them. But imagine getting out of the play at the Old Globe and finding your car has been flattened by that shade tree you parked under. Every year the winds topple over a eucalyptus that someone hasn't had cut back. They're shallow rooted here and when it rains and then we get wind the soft ground just can't hold them.

I like trees. I really do. I just planted two apples, an apricot, tangerine, orange and lime. I'll be putting in another apricot and I have an ornamental plum in the front. But I do think a solar grove is more practical for some of the huge parking lots. San Diego is ideal for PV and we should be covering everything, houses, business buildings AND parking lots with PV. And putting in gutters and rain collection for gray water. And recycling. And doing desalinization.

 

Here trees are planted in the corners of spaces, where 4 spaces touch at the corner. Species which require little water and don't grow all that high are normally selected, often eucalyptus like bottle brushes. These are not deciduous but in our climate and with less than 25% shaded ground, there isn't really a problem with too much shade in winter. Also the small hard waxy leaves which fall all year don't harm local waterways.

My thought was, put the solar panels on the roof and the trees in the car park because doing it the other way around is a lot harder.

 

there are other issues. pavement has a big impact on adsorbtion of rainwater, stormwater runoff, etc.

how about a mix, solar panels up higher, with low height trees, shrubs, etc beneath.
20' solar panels above, 15' trees below? something like that?

better - oh, pewd's gonna get radical - you pay a carbon tax everytime you pave over a lot - and a carbon credit if you put in solar planels or trees, or raingardens or the like. let folks trade carbon credits - then let the free market sort it out.

what was that stuff someone put on their driveway - plantable concrete mats? how about credits for using that stuff underneath the solar arrays ? then some of the rainwater soaks in instead of running off into the storm sewers...

 

Airports and military air bases pretty much create their own weather systems.
Parking lots....not so much.
But you've got to start somewheres.:smow:

 

yup, we have to start somwhere.
how much acerage is paved over in your typical wallmart?
all our stores, resturants, malls, strip centers, huge amount of pavement
heres what i was looking for earlier driveable pavement
you could also put small wind turbines up on a higher layer - above the solar cells

but folks won't do it until its profitable to do so - we need systems in place to make it economically advantageous to put in systems of this nature.

 

Sure, it will happen. A few people will occasionally run out and get stuck, and they will curse God, Man, and their fate, and call AAA or their brothers-in-law for a tow, just as happens today with doofusses in gasoline fueled cars. It's silly to argue that that inevitability is a reason not to provide the outlets.

 

I thought this thought deserved its own post.
Put the solar panels on the roof and the trees in the car park because doing it the other way around is a lot harder.

 

I'm going to give my gut feeling opinion before I read all the replies here and learn something. LOL

I would say given our current energy situation a mixture of the two would be the best idea. Solar arrays in the main portion of the lot with a scattering of small trees (under 15" or so) then line the draining edges of the lot, when possible, with a bio-swale to catch, absorb, and detoxify polluted rainwater runoff before it enters storm water drains. How's that for a pipe dream? You get energy production, localized climate mitigation, partial habitat creation and pollution control.

Solar arrays have the benefit of not producing sap that falls onto your sparkling clean car too. Just have to avoid creating nesting sites for pigeons though.

 

I met the guy that runs pluginolympia.com
There are now charging spots for EV at Costco, Albertsons, all the government buildings, and a few other large supermarkets (safeway? I think so).

I think EVs are the answer to urban driving... provided you have a place to park them at night! we don't, unfortunately (no off-street parking; no garage)

 

Both trees and solar arrays are problematic for parking lots. I live in a "Tree City" and appreciate their aesthetics and shade. I'd love to have an EV and plug it into a shaded port at work! A few design issues to consider:

1. Trees grow and shed leaves, drips crap and showers pollen, roots lift pavement, branches must be trimmed and maintained or will fall disastrously, must have water, birds... well you know.

2. Solar systems take huge capital outlays, have pillars to support them, must be cleaned, can look industrial.

3. Both would increase the cost of paving and repaving the lots.

I think a judicious use of both trees and solar parking systems would be feasible as power sold to the grid could offset maintenance costs.

Then again.... how about more efficient solar cells as the skin of our cars to generate power wherever you park outside?

 

Neither. Increase public transportation/reduce car usage. Turn parking lots to arable urban land. Plant community gardens.

 

And I thought my opinion was a pipe-dream....

I hate when you trump my posts. LOL

 

Yeah! That was cheating. Dragonfly wins. Nothing more to see here.

 

As shown in every one of my posts, I don't do PM. I'm also done with that line of discussion. Thanks though - taking it off here was probably a good idea.

 

all of these ideas need to go into the mix.

i'd include rain gardens - to filter the stormwater runoff.

 

I get your point, of course, but must still comment!

The cost of solar at today's prices - when coupled with EVs - is quit a bit cheaper than buying a gas car and buying the gasoline to put in it. And this even ignores all the indirect benefits of reducing gasoline consumption.

Have to be cleaned? I know almost NOBODY who cleans their panels. They get washed when it rains.

 

OK, I'll agree that rain takes some dirt off, but where you and I live it could be 8 months between significant rain fall. If I wanted peak efficiency I would have 'em cleaned occasionally.

Actually, I was stretching for negatives for the solar... The initial costs for a parking lot born by the property owner are still a problem regardless of overall savings for society.

 

Well, in general you can improve efficiency by two or three percent if you keep the dust off of them. Most people don't it worth the effort of climbing up on the roof with a hose and squeegie. Just like most people won't trouble themselves with driving the Prius at 60mph to save a couple of mpg. But again, yes. If you want peak efficiency, it would be best to wash your panels and drive at 45mph.

Yup. This is one of the times when our governement could do what it was created to do - work at creating a better situation for everybody. Maybe spend less time and money on figuring out how to lower the price of gas, and more time and money on figuring out how to create alternatives. Charge everybody more to buy a car (EVs, of course), and give that money to shopping malls to install solar-powered chargers? Would be a wash for the property owner, and cheaper in the long run for the drivers... and create more local jobs. And decrease pollution and health care costs. Increase quality of life. Decrease friction with other countries. Increase national security, :blah:

Nah. War is probably easier. And certaily cheap gas is better for us! :dizzy: