With the fall beginning and winter close behind, people who live in colder areas are starting to look into portable storage options for various vehicles, tools and other such items around their home. Leaving certain items outdoors in cold weather leaves them unprotected and open to potential damage from rain, ice, sleet and the whole lineup of nasty weather during the later months of the year. Carports are a main option for many looking to cover their vehicles from these elements, but sometimes carports have a use beyond simply protecting your cars and trucks.
As we have mentioned before, more and more electric vehicles are being released and with them comes a slew of solar charging stations. In most cases, solar panels are placed atop carports to supply the charger with power. A new innovation from Tesla Motors takes this premise to a new level. According to ZDNet:
“So far, Tesla has built six Supercharger stations, which use a solar carport system installed by national solar leasing company, SolarCity…from the driver’s (driving a Tesla Model S) standpoint, the capacity of the charger is perhaps more intriguing. It can provide up to 100 kilowatts of power, which means that it can recharge a Model S with up to three hours of drive time in about a half-hour…”
The article says that Tesla has installed six such stations in California, which is a hotbed for electric vehicles. The next step of carport installations will look into high traffic routes – “from Vancouver to San Diego, Miami to Montreal and Los Angeles to New York. Superchargers will migrate to Europe and Asia in the second half of 2013.”
Electric vehicles are becoming more present on our roadways, so expect to see solar carports becoming a common sight at rest stops throughout the country and the world.