Here’s a really cute idea for extracting more value from all those thousands of hectares of car parks there are in the world – the Sun4park. This consists of ready-made carports with solar panels on the roofs. Each one comes complete with its own concrete foundation, so there’s no need to dig up the tarmac first, and the units can be fitted together like jigsaw pieces.

Seems like a win:win – your car stays cool in sunny weather, while the photovoltaic panel that shades it generates electricity. As the maker, Italian photovoltaic group, Enerqos, says the Sun4Park is, “an ingenious and easy to assemble modular system.”

The company is launching Sun4Park in France, where its says tax incentives and the ability to link into the national grid run by EDF, will allow car park owners to make a return on the capital investment.

Tags: photovoltaics