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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: 5, Interesting) by fraxinus-tree on Tuesday March 03, @12:00PM (3 children)
I did a similar project on a personal scale. Works well. My motorhome now has two 550W solar panels instead of a foldable tent. They were not intended for hail protection, but indeed survived pretty well 2-3cm hail. The stuff under them (including laptop and two monitors) did not suffer any damage other than the general moisture that dried without trace. The table is also a solar panel (450W) with detachable ikea table legs. The table panel can still be used for electricity when really needed, but is also acceptable for dining, cooking, board games or computer work. When in storage or in motion, the 3 panels fold together nicely on the side of the van (the "table" panel with its legs inside the cavity between the two "tent" panels) and the whole construct makes some power even when folded.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday March 03, @03:01PM
Interesting. Do your two 550W solar panels meet most of your power needs? Just power the laptop / monitors?
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 4, Interesting) by ledow on Wednesday March 04, @08:24AM (1 child)
I started down the panel route because I was at a crossroads in my life in my 40's and I had two conceivable ways out:
- Buy a house.
- Sell everything I owned, move out of my rented place, buy a campervan, tour Europe until my money ran out.
I wasn't expecting to be able to do the first, but I hedged my bets and for several years bought the items I need to do the latter but only if they wouldn't be a waste in the former.
And that meant that I tested things like solar panels, furniture that broke down to its component parts, all kinds of silicone foldable utensils, etc. etc. etc.
And the panels were just me playing at first but, later, I did actually get a house and thus started adding more and more and more panels and batteries and cables and controllers and fuses and safety and switches and... now I have a solar setup on a house I own.
I even started with 12V, knowing that if I was going to end up in a vehicle that's what I'd want, but that I could combine them to get 24V or 48V (which is what I've done).
I like the idea of a solar panel table, though. That's great. I might steal that idea for my back garden. I hadn't thought of that and I have plenty of spare 120W/170W panels that would function well for that. "Hold on, it's sunny, let me just plug in the garden table..."
I have looked into all kinds of mounts for fences and "balconies" (the mount work just as well for upright surfaces" but I hadn't thought of putting legs on a panel and turning it into a table, and maybe one that folds back against the wall in the winter.
Thanks for that. That's genius. And good luck with your projects.
(Score: 2) by Rich on Thursday March 05, @12:49AM
Me too. Every five years or so my wooden outdoor tables have to be replaced. A solar panel and some legs will be cheaper than any wood or glass table. :)