SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
MotorTrend reports https://www.motortrend.com/news/kia-plant-solar-power-hail-protection that the Kia assembly plant in Georgia suffered very expensive hail damage to new cars waiting to be shipped, back in a storm in 2023. The fix is a massive raised solar array of 3.2 million square feet (300,000 meters^2) over the car park/storage area.
The system has about 17,000 solar panels on the columns of a structure that is large enough to protect about 15,000 vehicles from the elements until they are loaded onto trucks or rail cars for delivery. Hail damage costs billions of dollars a year.
The panels are not all connected yet. Construction began in 2024 and the goal was to be done in the first quarter of 2026 but panels are still being installed. It should be finished this spring.
VPS [Vehicle Protection Structures] has provided this kind of protection to dealerships, but this is the first large-scale execution for an assembly plant.
The partnership is also working with Georgia Power to optimize energy production and integrate the power generated by the solar panels into the plant. The panels will be capable of supplying 10 percent of the plant's energy needs. The project also provided credits under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act until that act was terminated.
Pics at the link, sort of like large "pop-up" shelters. To your AC submitter it's quite attractive.
Insuring the solar panels for hail damage seems like it would be cheaper than insurance to cover the same area of cars.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 03, @12:36AM (2 children)
> Shopping centers...
Agreed, but around here they would have to be stronger to support the snow load. Also, when there is a blizzard (snow + high winds), it might be difficult to clear the snow with all those support poles in the way.
For warmer places, I wonder if solar cells reflect some heat (IR), reducing the urban heat island effect from all that black asphalt?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by aafcac on Tuesday March 03, @07:45AM
There's probably ways of dealing with it, provided it doesn't get too cold, but you're absolutely right that beyond a certain point there's just too much snow.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Spamalope on Tuesday March 03, @02:23PM
The white canopy will help most with the heat.
I do wish you could get panels designed to be giant 3x5ft shingles so they're ready to be canopy/shed/carport roofs.