Imagine: it’s summer in Phoenix. Another 120-degree day. You drive to the store, surveying the parking lot for any speck of shade. There it is – a single, scraggly tree, casting a meager shadow over approximately one and a half spaces. One parking spot is already occupied, but the other one is free. You careen towards it, only to discover that three other cars have beaten you. One of them is a soccer mom in a silver suburban. She actually got there second, but she has a murderous rage in her eyes. She gets the spot.

You slink away in shame, finding a spot directly underneath the punishing sun. You soak in the blessed air conditioning for just a moment longer before turning off your car. Even as you step out of the cool and into the sun-scorched desert, you know that the worst part will be returning to your car after you finish your errands. In spite of your special reflective sun shade and the cloth cover on your steering wheel, your dashboard will still be hot enough to fry an egg on when you return. (You know this because you tried it once.) You’ll have to crank your air conditioner before you can even get in the car and you know that can’t be good for the environment.

Now imagine: the entire parking lot is covered. You don’t have to max out your air conditioning because the car just doesn’t get quite as hot, because the parking lot itself isn’t getting baked by the sun – a phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect (https://climate.mit.edu/explainers/urban-heat-islands).

And even as you walk into the air-conditioned building, you’re not concerned about its impact on the environment because you know something important: this entire building is powered by that same scorching desert heat. That’s right: the covering over the parking lot is actually solar panels. Those solar panels are taking advantage of our overwhelming Arizona sun to power our businesses and even offer charging stations for electric vehicles.

This isn’t a novel concept. In Vista, California, Target is testing a retrofit to see if they can convert a store to run completely off the grid. They installed solar panels over their parking lot and rooftop that, if successful, will generate enough electricity to not only power the entire store, but also send power back to the grid (https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/17/targets-solar-panel-carports-at-california-store-may-be-a-green-model.html).

Many other businesses such as Home Depot and Lowe’s have been experimenting with placing solar panels on the roofs of some of their locations to provide part of their power. But if you put more panels over the parking lot, you eliminate much of the heat generated by the asphalt, and the extra emissions generated by cars cranking their ACs to 11 to cope with the devastating heat of the sun.

Arizona already has an incentives program in place to help homeowners and businesses add solar panels (https://www.azsolarcenter.org/arizona-tax-incentives), but these are mostly focused on rooftop solar panels. What if we started making parking lot solar panels more of a priority? Yes, there is an added challenge to building solar panels in a parking lot. They can be expensive and difficult to manufacture, as they have to be sturdy enough to safely go over the cars (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/01/28/the-best-idea-in-a-long-time-covering-parking-lots-with-solar-panels/?variant=95d42e19c24b03e7). However, they can also have the potential to be the most rewarding type of clean energy that impacts Arizonans in our every day lives.

In fact, take it one step further. Many apartment buildings, townhouses, and condos in Arizona already have covered parking. What if those added solar panels on top? What if we installed solar canopies over our sidewalks or highways? We could easily power the entire state and have enough left over to sell to the states around us, simply by taking advantage of a resource we already have in plentiful quantities. The best part is, this plan doesn’t involve disturbing natural ecosystems or infringing on indigenous territories; it takes advantage of land that has already been cleared and just makes it more efficient.

Arizona is currently the skin cancer capital of America. What if it could become the solar energy capital of America instead?

We plan on writing to as many government officials as we can find, as well as many retailers -- we just want to get signatures to show that Arizonans are behind this plan. As stated earlier, there are already some financial incentives for solar panels and the like, but if we make it clear that we want these solar carports everywhere, maybe our elected officials can make it a better program, or start taxing businesses that don’t offer solar coverings over their parking lots. How nice would it be if fossil fuels and unshaded parking became a thing of the past?

So, if you’re a fan of renewable energy or you just want your parking space to be a little cooler in the summer, please consider signing and sharing.