Parking Lot Solar

For anybody who is thinking that solar power is not alive anymore, think again.  Some of the smartest people on the planet are investing in solar power, and those people are the ones who manage the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital which is part of Stanford University’s Medical Center.  At one of their new buildings, they have decided to place a solar system on-top of one of the parking lots.  What a great idea indeed.  Especially if you have an area that faces the sun and does not have any shade.  Excellent.  What is particularly good about this parking structure is that it allows for the solar panels to face the street so all of the other local townspeople will be able to see what a great use of space there is on top of the cars.

It is hard to say exactly why, but the installers of the solar panels decided to use Sunpower PV modules.  These panels all look very sharp, and are rated to last for over 25 years.  Here is a good picture of the underside of the Sunpower solar module:

Sunpower PV Solar Cell from the underside

If you look at this enormous solar panel system from the street, it is very easy on the eyes. It has a very low profile, to the point where I had to stand up tall to take the picture of the modules.  I did not count every single panel, but it looks like it was about 100 panels in total size. About 5 panels per row.  Here is a good picture of all of the solar panels together:

About 100 Sunpower Solar PV Modules

My estimate on the kwh output of this solar system is about 4300 kwh of electricity per month.  That is based on an average sunlight hour per day value of about 5.  You could change up the average sunlight hours per day number with a number that is closer to where you live, and that would give you and idea for the output of this sized system which is roughly 25kw or 25,000 watts in total size.