Millions of car owners across the UK have been told that they could save up to £1,200 on their energy bills by using carports made from solar panels on their driveways.
Experts say that millions of homes could use solar carports depending on a few factors.
To be effective, the carports would have to be used on a south-facing driveway or parking spot so that enough sunlight can reach them.
For people who do, they could save an average of between £1,100 to £1,200 on their energy bill by using a a standard 4 kilowatt single-car solar port.
Electric car owners may also want to use carports to ensure they are powering their vehicles on purely clean energy.
Electric vehicle owners may still be getting their power generated from gas power plants.
While carports are likely to help many save a lot of money in the long term, the immediate cost of having them installed may put some off.
Costing £10,000 or more, it may take 10 years for the savings to actually pay off.
Professor Alastair Buckley of Sheffield University told the i that there is a lack of products on the market, and the ones that are available are costly.
He said: “I think it would be fair to say that there is an opportunity to innovate in the solar carport space with a potential market being several million homes.
“In some situations – maybe where the house is tall or the roof is not in a great state – a solar carport would make much more sense than solar panels on the roof.
“A tall house is more likely to need scaffolding for a safe install and this could be a significant part of the install cost. Even if it’s just a tower it could be many hundred pounds for that alone.”
“And for electric vehicle owners, it would also keep the car cool while charging and this could be a benefit to the battery.”
Jim Williams, of Polysolarm told the same outlet that interest in carports is growing.
Research by Solspan, the UK solar carports and carport solar canopy company, found that 500 of the top businesses in the UK could make combined savings of £1.4billion on their energy costs if they use solar panels above their car parks.
Expanded to the biggest 8,000 companies in the UK, a total of £2.2billion a year could be saved, the research claimed.
