Parking lots are notorious environmental wastelands, with their seemingly endless miles of asphalt and lack of greenery. But there could be a way to help green parking lots as they don’t seem to be going anywhere as long as cars remain our main source of transportation.
"Solar Trees," named by San Diego-based company Envision Grove, not only provides shade for parking lots, like trees, it also provides a source of electricity, using solar power.
The solar grove provides not only energy, but shade, which reduces the need for air conditioning in cars as well as has the capacity to reduce light pollution by trapping light underneath the canopy while simultaneously lighting the parking lot.
Each canopy can be tilted to maximize the energy trapped and produced by the sun. Each tree is s 10 feet tall at the low end and 13 feet tall at the high end and together can shade 6 cars. By generating large amounts of energy, it saves the CO2 emissions that traditionally generated electricity creates.
Not only that, but they can be washed down when they accumulate dust and also can route rainwater into bio-swales: porous, organic material that filters pollutants from park lot run-off.
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