Solar Powered Park and Ride Facilities

Recharging stations may be cropping up, but are they solar powered?

In Vacaville, California, government agencies have already embraced the future of transportation and solar power. In February 2005, a new Vacaville Bella Vista Solar Powered Park and Ride Facility opened along Interstate 80, between Sacramento and San Francisco, complete with a 45 kw photovoltaic (PV) system and 6 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. In addition, there are bicycle lockers and bike racks, further encouraging environmentally-friendly commuting.  Who knew that we’d see solar powered park and ride facilities so soon?

The Park and Ride is a short walk to the Vacaville Regional Transportation Center, which provides bus connections to Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), University of California, Davis, and Farifield/Suisun. The solar panels on the roof of the solar powered park and ride facility generate enough clean, renewable energy to meet 100% of the electrical demands from four small-paddle inductive chargers, two conductive chargers with 110V GFCI circuits, lighting at the parking lot, and irrigation controls for site landscaping.  The photovoltaic system array itself provides shaded parking for all six “Electric Vehicle Charging Only” parking spaces. The facility is one of two plug-in recharging parking lots in the City; there are others in the area.

Although plug-in park and ride facilities have been considered by other municipalities and governmental agencies around the United States, it is not surprising that one of the first successfully constructed solar powered park and ride facilities is in Vacaville.

The city has one of the highest per capita concentrations of electric cars in the world, which gives it the nickname “Voltageville.” If you live in, or visit, Vacaville, you are encouraged to write in the “guest book” for the Vacaville Bella Vista Park and Ride Facility at I Was There. I can’t wait until more of these innovative parking lots spring up around the world, so I too can say “I was there!”

What do you think about solar powered park and ride facilities?  Should we encourage governmental agencies to construct more of them around the world?  Or do you think they are but a futuristic idea that will never come to fruition?