After writing an article a few weeks back about a city in China where almost every roof is covered in solar, I've come to realize that we're obviously not taking advantage of the square footage above our heads. Everything from collecting rain to growing produce to harnessing the sun could be achieved using our roofs. We're not there yet, but I'm hopeful that change is in the air.
Helping my optimism along is a recent article of a firm in California attempting to take single-purpose parking garages and turn them into functional structures that harness the power of the sun. Already having raised $600,000, Envision Solar plans to take advantage of wasted space above these structures and line them with solar panels. That energy could then be used to either power a nearby building, fed into the grid, or leveraged to charge electric cars. Tesla Motors, makers of the upcoming Tesla Roadster all-electric super car, are also petitioning for a similar setup. Go figure.
