Where’s the largest carport located? Richard Stockton College of New Jersey apparently has the largest carport – metal or polyethylene, it’s not specified in the article — but the structure isn’t used only as a carport. Instead, like many similar green structures, this large carport is being used for solar power. As metal carports seem to be designed appropriately, angle and strength, to suppose photovoltaic panels, this structure keeps on being used in the United States and Great Britain in projects to incorporate more solar power. With its size, this carport uses 851.8 kilowatts of power and will save, in time, 1.2 megawatts of power.
Many companies and schools are finding ways to go green. This option often involves creating a solar powered carport to give power to a building. In the UK, company Romag, as we read earlier, created a similar model for general solar power for a power grid and to power electric cars. In New Jersey, this particular carport involved the first allocation of federal economic stimulus funding to the state. As the carport was funded by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, the stimulus money seemed like a reasonable way to find a green energy project.
Carports, particularly metal carports, appear to be ideal for this task of incorporating solar power into areas that would automatically rely on a less environmentally-friendly form, be it nuclear, electric, or coal fuel. But this structure works two-fold: While the Richard Stockton College is able to use solar energy and reduce its carbon footprint, students at the school also get a parking space in the shade. Does this indicate that carports may be covering all parking lots in the future? Perhaps or maybe not, but all of that depends on how far businesses, schools, and communities, as well as individuals, go with experimenting with solar energy.