Parking lot Solar Panels/Shade Structure

So just saw a set of tweets talking about how Six Flags Magic Mountain is converting their entire parking area into elevated solar panels. Will act as sun shades for cars to park under. And will offset 100% of their electric usage. Allowing them to power the entire park off their on site power. Just thought this would be a great idea at the Point. The main lot and Soak City lots are both wide out in the open and I know personally my car is like a pressure cooker after a day sitting in the sun. Shade AND “free” power would be a huge win!

That's pretty great if they can do that. I assume they do net metering there, so by "offset" it means they generate more during the day than they use all day. I wonder what their ROI period is for that, and if there's a utility deal to get it built.

CP would be an odd place, because they would end up powering mostly homes most of the year, maybe to the extent it could be a revenue source. That's assuming they would have the regulatory environment to do so. There are some states where you can't generate more than you use, and if you do, you don't get anything for it. There is so much protectionism built in for the utilities.

So in the case of high draw rides that use electrical launches like Maverick, Wicked Twister (Defunct), TTD 2.0, etc.

Could they use a solar field of that scope to compliment the charge cycles of the capacitor banks and smooth out their draw on the local grid + store some (yes I'm aware storage at that scale isn't as practical as a giant battery like EcoFlow/Anker, but just thinking here) so they can minimize their electrical costs for the park?

Jeff I think that's what you mean by next metering right?

Not sure what the bird situation is like around Magic mountain, but I feel like the seagulls at cp might be a deal breaker.

https://www.critterguard.or...s/birdbloc

I think birds live everywhere.

I haven't read up on all the details for the project at Six Flags yet but I know of a couple other parks that have looked into doing this at their parks years ago and it was setup where it was ran through the electric company not the park. Not sure the exact specifics of how it would've work but I do know that it was the electric company would've installed and owned the panels (not sure who was in charge of maintenance but I assume the power company) then the park would pull what they needed and the left over would've been used to help power the surrounding area.

Presumably this Six Flags deal is a similar setup as I also know a few other parks/developments that have solar and they are all ran through the power company not the individual development as well. Not sure though if the park still has to pay for the power since the panels are on their land or if it's heavily discounted (I know cell towers bring in big $$$ so this could be similar). Things could've changed since I last heard of places doing this to where now it is privately funded but either way it's a really cool concept and I wish more places would start doing this in massive open spaces *cough cough looking at you billion dollar stadiums in the middle of parking lots*.

RCMAC:

I think birds live everywhere.

Gonna need a source for that claim.

Typically a business partners with a development/energy company that constructs/operates/maintains the solar field.

https://investors.sixflags....-120141309

RCMAC:

I think birds live everywhere.

Ah, but you would be mistaken.

Birds Aren't Real.

That is cool but cedar point wouldn’t be fit because it’s cloudy all the time! Lol!!!!

djDaemon:

RCMAC:

I think birds live everywhere.

Gonna need a source for that claim.

He read it on...ready?...Twitter.

Cousin Eddy:

That is cool but cedar point wouldn’t be fit because it’s cloudy all the time! Lol!!!!

You do know that light passes through clouds, right? That's why you're alive.

Net metering means that when you produce more than you use, it's fed back into the grid. Your meter actually moves backwards. Then when you're not producing, you draw from the grid. So to have stable power, you either need a) power from the grid or b) power from storage on site (batteries).

My system at home doesn't generate enough to cover our usage, because the AC runs non-stop later in the day, plus we're cooking and charging the cars. In this graph, you can see I took 44kWh from the grid, but I put 19 back, meaning that I only pay for 25. That's net metering.

Thank you for the breakdown Jeff.

So this goes back to if Cedar Point has an option to produce more than they're demanding (so I don't imagine storage is feasible for them with current tech?) And put it back into the grid to offset costs if I'm following correctly?

The scale has to be large, but there are utility scale storage options, like the Megapack installations. Kauai is getting closer to all-renewable, and their prices are about the same as they are in Florida.

From Six Flags article linked above:

the installation of a new 12.37-megawatt solar carport and energy storage system at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Los Angeles

12.37-megawatt solar carport built over the main guest parking lot;

Battery storage system producing 1.958 megawatts of power with 7,886.3 kilowatt hours of capacity that can be deployed daily;

The park will be able to offset 100% of its energy usage with solar power

Jeff:

You do know that light passes through clouds, right? That's why you're alive.

Yeah, I know, it just was a joke!

Jeff:
In this graph, you can see I took 44kWh from the grid, but I put 19 back, meaning that I only pay for 25. That's net metering.

Cool as heck to see that, I've read and heard about it but to actually see it is pretty slick....

Bet you most in NE Ohio wish they had some solar since their rates doubled recently.

It's not a matter of wishing, we all make choices.

Jeff:

we all make choices.

You are 100% correct in that statement.....thanks for sharing that graph. Cool to see actual numbers.

Solar panels are a little less effective when the sky is covered by wildfire smoke. I truly hope that these fires can be contained and put out soon. The smoke has been terrible in the region this week. I'm honestly a little surprised that more parks/events aren't canceling operations. Yesterday the air quality in Milwaukee was graded "hazardous" on the accepted scale, but SFGAm remained open.