The advice still remains the same. If they were hurting for land these would be great, but a dedicated solar farm would take up less space per panel (no need for gaps for cars to drive through) less support material (they can be 2' off the ground vs 8') and less chance for "guest interaction" (eg Mr Wilson attempting to park his 16' tall rented RV under one.)No, I mean put the solar panels over the parking spots.
NRG Solar does it. Like this photo at Arizona State University.
Put those over the parking areas ... and if you dont want to go all in, make it premium parking and charge extra for a shady spot.
Over the parking lot provides pretty good bang for your buck, maybe more than in a seperate area. Here's why: In order to build a large solar farm on unused land they would need to level all of the trees and foliage plus worry about building water drainage and build roadways for maintenance work. With the parking lots the land is already prepped and ready for use. Just install the supports and the panels. The other huge benefit to using the parking lots is they provide free advertising. A company like NRG will come in and construct and own the panels and just sell Disney the power. It's much more attractive to the other company to have the panels where thousands of guests a day will see them.
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I said nothing to the economic viability of current solar technology. My only critique was the price per panel when installing them on the ground in a field vs an elevated roof in a parking lot. In that case, field is less expensive than parking lot.
Rooftop solar is cost competitive in a number of states already and within 2 to 3 years will be viable in up to 24 states. The cost of panels is dropping and the cost to install has dropped too. 2 years ago it took an average of 2 days to install a rooftop solar array. Today it takes a few hours. Don't get me wrong, the grid isn't going anywhere anytime real soon. Until battery technology catches up there is still the issue of the sun not shining at night.
Would the company (i.e. NRG) be responsible for the maintenance?Over the parking lot provides pretty good bang for your buck, maybe more than in a seperate area. Here's why: In order to build a large solar farm on unused land they would need to level all of the trees and foliage plus worry about building water drainage and build roadways for maintenance work. With the parking lots the land is already prepped and ready for use. Just install the supports and the panels. The other huge benefit to using the parking lots is they provide free advertising. A company like NRG will come in and construct and own the panels and just sell Disney the power. It's much more attractive to the other company to have the panels where thousands of guests a day will see them.
They have these at the Linc (Philadelphia Eagles Stadium) and you can tailgate including grilling under them. If Eagles fans aren't breaking the panels then they should be fine at Disney
Yep. They own the panels. Disney would just sign a power purchase agreement where they would agree to buy the power produced at a fixed price per KW. Likely an option to purchase after the lease term (likely 20 to 30 years). If the option isn't exercised the seller is usually responsible for removing the equipment and returning the ground to some agreed upon state. Typically in these type of contracts the seller keeps the Renewable Energy Credits that are generated from the project which have a market value associated with them as well. It's a win/win for both sides. Good PR and exposure for both companies.
Except to shade the cars.
If guests want their car to be shaded that badly, they will have the choice to park in one of the parking garages.
Not at MK. That lot is prime for solar parking.
It's easier and cheaper to build over the parking lot. There is also a PR benefit to having the panels visible. You want guests to see how "green" you are. More importantly Disney gets a price break from the owner of the panels if they have the ancillary benefit of free advertising for the owner. If the panels are out of site you lose that value.
