Private EV chargers are the most popular nowadays and will account for 90% of EV charging infrastructure by 2030. Having an EV charger installed at your house implies several benefits.

Best Accessibility and Availability

Firstly, it allows for the best availability and accessibility. You can simply plug your car in at night and wake up to a fully charged vehicle in the morning, without having to worry about finding a charging station or waiting for your car to charge while you’re out running errands. This can save you a lot of time and hassle in the long run.

Saving Costs

Another benefit is cost savings. Many utility companies offer lower rates for charging EVs during off-peak hours, which can help you save money on your electric bill. Additionally, because you’re not relying on public charging stations, you won’t have to pay any fees or subscription costs to use them.

Compatible with Solar PV Systems for Maximum Efficiency

Having an EV charger at home can also be more environmentally friendly. Charging your car at home means you can take advantage of renewable energy sources. In fact, EV chargers can be efficiently installed in concomitance with a residential solar PV system. Not only the solar panels allow you to reduce the carbon footprint of your house, but also to decrease your electricity consumption and costs, while shielding your home against energy price volatility. And by deciding to install an optional set of batteries, you will be able to store electricity for future use, especially during power outages or periods of the year when solar irradiation is lower.

Increasing Home Value

Finally, having an EV charger in your house can increase the resale value of your home. As more people make the switch to electric vehicles, having a convenient and reliable charging station in your garage or driveway can be a major selling point for potential buyers.

Benefit from tax credits and incentives

Depending on where you live in Europe, you may be eligible for tax credits or other incentives for installing an EV charger as well as a solar PV system. Our team can provide you with further information based on which country you reside.

An increasing number of businesses are installing an EV charging station for their employees and clients as well as part of their sustainability initiatives. Whether you possess an office building, a warehouse, a manufacturing plant, an auto dealership, a retail store, a gas station or if you are an airport or a train station, you can consider offering EV chargers to benefit strategically, financially and environmentally from.

Strategic & Environmental Advantages

Commercial EV chargers are very convenient for employees who can charge their EVs during working hours and return home with a fully charged vehicle.

They are also attractive for customers driving EVs. This especially applies for retail businesses, as clients with EVs will likely choose retail stores where they can charge their cars while shopping. Additionally, the charging station can attract EV drivers that might not know about your activity beforehand, so that your business foot traffic and visibility will increase. This is extremely effective in areas where public chargers are scarce.

By installing an EV charging station, you can future-proof your business by anticipating trends and regulations, which is best achieved by building EV charging infrastructure in conjunction with solar PV. In fact, the European Union announced its goal to ban new CO2 emitting vehicles by 2035 and require solar rooftop PV systems for new public and commercial buildings with useful floor areas larger than 250 sqm by 2026, and for existing buildings by 2027.

Adopting green energy in the form of an EV charging station as well as in concomitance with Solar Parking can create a sustainable competitive asset. In the former case you can encourage a sustainable habit and thus indirectly contribute to CO2 emissions reduction. In the latter, you can directly reduce the carbon footprint of your building and activity. By doing so, you can attract and retain customers. In fact, 85% of respondents from a 2021 global survey indicated to have shifted their purchase behaviour towards sustainability, with more than a third willing to pay extra for it. In addition, 55% of respondents from another global survey considered environmental responsibility crucial when selecting a brand. Additionally, offering EV charging services with solar parking protection from the elements can improve customer experience by prioritizing their comfort.

Financial Advantages

While your firm or public entity might decide to cover EV charging expenses for employees as part of their remuneration package, it could also decide to use its EV charging stations as a source of revenue. You can do so by charging either workers or customers who recharge their EVs while working or shopping in your building. This is profitable especially for retail stores, airports and other buildings that experience a high traffic of individuals per day. Also, EV drivers that do not directly interact with your building, but either work or live nearby or are simply passing through, can decide to use your parking to charge their vehicles. This not only increases your revenue but also the foot traffic and visibility of your activity.

Finally, if you are planning to reduce the driving costs of your company by purchasing electric vehicles for your operations, you can install EV chargers in your buildings and logistic centres.

Solar power is the future of parking lots, an efficient opportunity to shade your vehicles while powering your building and business.

If your activity has a parking area, whether it is for employees, customers or both, installing solar-powered parking structures on the property can cover multiple functions and yield several advantages.

The Functions

The main purpose is to generate electricity that will be used to power your business. The solar panels placed on top of the supporting construction absorb solar irradiation and convert it into electricity. This can be used to power:

• Lights
• Office Equipment
• Buildings’ cooling, heating and ventilation systems
• Industrial machinery
• EV chargers located in the parking lot

If you wish solar energy to cover the whole electricity consumption of your activity and the solar parking alone cannot satisfy this need, you can also consider combining it with the electric power generated by a solar PV system installed on the rooftop of your building. This will allow you to further decrease electricity costs and own a cleaner activity.

Additionally, while covering your electricity needs, a solar parking can shield employees and customers’ vehicles from snow loads in winter and strong heat in summer.

The Advantages

By installing a solar parking infrastructure in you parking area, you will benefit from the main advantages that are usually derived from using solar PV to power electricity in a building.

Independence from the public grid

Firstly, you will be able to become more independent from the public grid. Not only this will make you autonomous from and unaffected by power outages, but it will also shield you from the price volatility of fossil fuel-generated electricity.

Lower electricity costs

Secondly, producing your own electricity and achieving autonomy from the public grid also means you will reduce your monthly and yearly electricity costs.

Sustainable competitive asset

Solar PV is a source of clean and renewable energy. By adopting it for your everyday operations, you will reduce the CO2 emissions of your activity. Not only you will anticipate incoming regulations, but you will develop a sustainable asset that can attract more customers and put you ahead of the competition. In a global survey conducted in 2021, 85% of the respondents belonging to different age groups, stated to have shifted their purchase behaviour towards being more sustainable. The new generations rank as the highest share. Additionally, more than one third claimed to be willing to pay more for sustainability. In another survey conducted globally, 55% of the respondents deemed environmental responsibility extremely important when choosing a brand.

Enhanced employee and customer experience

Employees and customers will be more pleased if they can shield their vehicles from the heat, hail and snow. Or even if they can charge their cars while working and shopping through the EV chargers allocated in the solar parking area. Your business will give the idea to prioritize employees and customers’ comfort.

Increasing revenue

You could increase your revenue through solar parking in multiple ways. Firstly, if the parking spot is charged, some people are willing to pay an extra amount if the parking can shield their vehicles from external phenomena. Secondly, by placing EV chargers, you can collect the money drivers spend to charge their EVs while working or shopping in your building. Also, EV drivers that do not directly interact with your building, but either work or live nearby or are simply passing through, can decide to use your parking to charge their vehicles. This also increases the foot traffic and visibility of your activity.

Usage of already existing space

You don’t need to go through financial expenses and complicate bureaucracy related to acquiring new land to install your solar parking structure. You can simply use the parking lot already existing nearby your building.

For whom is Solar Parking?

Solar parking is for every business or public entity that has or is planning to have a parking area available.

Among the enterprise world, retail businesses are the ones that most benefit from solar parking, giving the amount of people that constantly visit their building every day. They have the highest financial, sustainable and competitive incentives to install solar parking to reduce electricity costs, generate additional revenues, develop a sustainable asset and enhance customer experience.

Another sector that can benefit as much involves airports, train stations as well as gas stations and rest stop along the highway, due to the continuous flow of people visiting and using their infrastructure.

Nevertheless, also auto dealerships, warehouses, manufacturing plants and business offices can benefit from solar parking.

What do you need to consider when installing solar parking?

The size of the solar parking structure is determined by the dimension of the parking area, by the amount of visitors you receive daily and by the size of the vehicles that are usually parked.

If your building already has carports, you can save money by simply placing the panels on top of them.

Public charging will become increasingly popular as the European Parliament announces the deployment of at least one EV charger for cars every 60 km along main EU roads. The same would apply for trucks and buses but only on core TEN-T networks and with more power capacity.

Public entities will be able to install these high-capacity EV chargers along highways, city roads and suburbs, stimulating a more sustainable driving habit and anticipating incoming regulations. They will also be able to collect the consequent revenue, thus expanding the source of public income.

As shown below, public EV charging holds the greatest charging capacity, becoming a key factor for faster deployment of electric vehicles. Public Charging Stations rely on the most powerful and fastest chargers, optimal for charging EVs on the go along main roads, highways, urban areas and communities.