Solar sunscreen

San Diego's Naval Base Coronado isn't just the homeport for several aircraft carriers. It's also a magnet for thousands of cars a day. So when the Navy wanted to help ease its draw on the California energy grid-the base is the largest electricity user in San Diego County-it turned a vast parking lot into a solar power plant.

At 40 feet wide and a half-mile long, the giant carport built by Powerlight Corp. of Berkeley, Calif., provides shade for about 400 cars in the base's long-term parking lot. The roof of the structure is made up of more than 3,000 photovoltaic panels. The 750-kW system is the federal government's largest single generator of solar power.

"In fact, it's the largest solar electric shade structure in the world," said Powerlight's president, Dan Shugar.

Although the solar array should help meet the base's peak electricity demand-and reduce the strain on the regional transmission and distribution system-Shugar said the carport has some aesthetic qualities, too.

"There are design elements that transmit light around the solar cells, through the panels, and down into the interior space," Shugar said. "It feels really nice under there. You get a sense of the sky, so it doesn't feel like you're heading into a cave." JEFFREY WINTERS

Copyright American Society of Mechanical Engineers Jan 2003
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