Solar farms get creative

Solar power is expected to dominate global electricity markets in the next few decades, and already accounts for three-quarters of renewable energy capacity, according to the International Energy Agency. This year, BloombergNEF predicts solar builds will climb another 25%, adding more than 500 gigawatts of capacity.

All of that solar needs a lot of space. Powering just one megawatt of capacity requires at least two hectares, meaning a 200-megawatt project (roughly 3 000 panels) takes up as much space as 550 American football fields.

“Actually seeing where your power comes from gives people more of an impetus to make the types of changes in their daily lives we’re asking them to make,” says Bonnie Heiple, commissioner at the Massachusetts department of energy.

As solar gains momentum, its champions are getting more creative about where to place panels. There are solar arrays on top of big-box stores, solar arrays on yachts and solar farms that float.

Parking lots and garages require plenty of space. Adding a solar canopy can provide shade, safety and seamless charging for EVs, says Ben Jones, vice-president of design and engineering at New York-based DSD Renewables.

DSD is behind a project to add solar canopies to 16 parking lots and garages at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Shuttered golf courses can be ideal locations for solar farms. There’s less work required to clear the land, and the terrain tends to be relatively flat.

There’s also some poetic justice to installing renewable energy at places that used to eat up water resources and compromise local biodiversity.