Patagonia Completes Solar Power Carport
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 01.25.06
Patagonia clothing company recently completed the installation of a large solar photovoltaic carport project at its Ventura, California headquarters. The system incorporates 360 Sharp solar panels rated at 185-watts for a combined output of 66.6 kW. The panels are on three custom-built carports erected in the parking lot. The eye-catching structure produces an amount of energy equivalent to the energy used in approximately 60 California homes during peak usage periods and also shades cars during the day, according to the project's designers.
"Our new solar system proves energy independence can be aesthetically pleasing," said Jill Dumain, Patagonia. "Patagonia believes in using business to inspire solutions to the environmental crisis, and our solar solution is just one example of our commitment to that belief."
Story via: Renewable Energy Access
Excellent, great move from Patagonia. More corporations should follow the leader.
Seems like a nice idea!
Great job using the panels to do double duty by reducing the energy needed to cool off solar heated cars.
Oh man, the panels look like they swivel! Do they track the sun? Not tracking the sun is one of the biggest preventable inefficiencies in photovoltaics today.
This is a good idea -- reclaiming all of that wasted space for energy production.