Envisioning the solar parking garage

La Jolla, Calif.'s Envision Solar wants to convert the wasted space that covers parking garages into a utility.

The company, which has raised $600,000 and is seeking $1.3 million more, plans to put solar panels on the roofs of parking structures. The electricity produced could then be used to power an adjacent building, be fed into the grid or used to charge electric cars in the parking lot.

Tesla Motors Chairman Elon Musk has talked about cutting deals with parking garages to install solar panels. And the last time we were at Tesla's headquarters, we ran into Martin Roscheisen, CEO of Nanosolar, and some other Nanosolar execs in the lobby. Go figure.

Envision got started after CEO Robert Noble, who was running an architectural firm, got contacted by Japan's Kyocera about building a solar panel garage. Kyocera is one of the world's largest panel makers.

"Solar has to go on parking lots and parking structures," Noble told VentureWire. "The parking lots and parking structures are where all the space is."

The difficulty will come in financing. Although prices are declining, solar panels aren't cheap and many parking lots aren't currently covered by a roof, which would have to be built to accommodate panels. Envision will have to convince building owners about the economics of solar, particularly in the U.S. It will be an easier sell in Spain and Germany, where solar demand rages.

As a side note, check out Envision's Web site. It plays all new age music while a woman's voice welcomes you to the future of energy. There's a definite Minority Report feel to it: it's optimistic and ominous at the same time.

[Manhattan2]

This does not make sense. These bright people should rethink their plans.

Yes, the idea of the sun being captured right there at the parking lot and used to charge up electric cars may seem like a good idea but it is not. Mr. Musk, Mr. Roscheisen and others need to look at this energy problem we have gotten ourselves into as a true national or global problem. Simply answer one question for me. Are there powered lights in the parking garage? If so the power to charge those electric cars Tesla and other companies are making should come right from the grid. Take that money that was going to go toward an inefficient solar panel in a most likely poor solar constant zone and bad angle to the sun and move that investment where it captures the most amount of energy. We have been trying to explain this Solar Transfer technology and I would think Mr. Musk would understand it right away. The power that your panel or investment produces in lets say Arizona, or Nevada is used locally by those residents. You get at least twice as much power every day for the next 20-30 years off your panels and any energy value it creates is sent to you in the form of a Pay Pal credit. A Solar Transfer credit. Hopefully Mr. Musk, tesla executives, or nanosolar executives will read this because we promise it is the way to go. Years have gone into our research and creative minds on the East Coast like those found at eBay, and Paypal have come up with a new "Solar Energy Program" that makes sense. We need help finishing the program and getting the word out. Please read this posting twice before you shoot it down.

[davidbanchs]

solar panels

Why cant these great minds just come up with a cheap solor panel we can all use. That would put a big dent in our oil dependcy. Why cant we find who is stopping such information from reaching the people??

[Manhattan2]

No matter what the cost comes down to if your intension is saving the world

Do not put solar panels on rooftops. Do not put solar panels on Google?s headquarters. Do not put Solar panels in Tennessee on Al Gores roof. Solar Transfer is the solution. Put the panels where they generate up to twice the power just because the sun shines at a higher solar constant.

As long as we can get the investment into a SolarTransfer City within a few years we will easily make up for any down time. We are not trying to talk the world out of Solar, we are making solar more economical for the masses to adopt. Run the numbers, you will come to the same conclusion.

Our goal is to not only to put our solar collectors were the sun shines the most but to bring the cost of materials down to cover a larger area of our City. There is no reason to make room for bulky looking solar installations on your roof. The angles are not optimal, the clouds get in the way, and how does one who lives in a high-rise join in. Since fellow green enthusiast will likely be the early adopters we would like to here from those who have already put up photovoltaic panels. How would you feel if we said we could have taken your same solar investment that may cover 1/4 your electricity cost and deliver a way to cover all of that energy cost. Ask your Governor or Senator if they have heard about Solar Transfer?

[jsmith2007.lol]

Why Not You Tell Us What's Solar Transfer

Manhattan2 has a website solartransfer.com that's full of **** and he bs here and more bs there, registered a bunch of domains and use google ads trying to make some $. Little human.

[malcolm-d]

What about the lost of power on the grid

Putting solar panels in the desert where there are long hours of sunlight is a great idea and it's certainly better than using fossil fuels to produce power for the grid. However the lost of power by transferring it hundreds of miles on the grid will mitigate the benefits of the more efficient production.

Large solar "factories" also keep control of electricity in the hands of the big utilities.

Small scale solar and wind definitely has a place, congratulations to the guys who came up with the parking garage idea - production close to use is the best way to avoid the inefficiency of the grid.