3ti solar power car park design

Europe’s first solar car park with EV charging and carbon-friendly construction to open in Wiltshire

By
Nic Ryan
Published

A new Solar Car Park (SCP) installation is to open at Five Rivers Health and Wellbeing Centre in Salisbury, Wiltshire.

It is the first large-scale SCP in Europe to be constructed from sustainable Glulam timber beams and Glass-Glass solar panels from German manufacturer, Solarwatt.

The 3ti Papilio3 pop-up SCP is set to open in April of this year, and will contain electric vehicle (EV) charge points that are open to the public, capable of charging 12 EVs  at 7, 11 or 22kW simultaneously.

It will comprise three gullwing solar canopies covering 70 car park spaces, with a combined total capacity of c.220 kWp, and will contribute over 10% of the centre’s overall electricity usage and save £50,000 on annual bills.

In its first year, the Five Rivers SCP is expected to generate 186MWh of electricity, enough to drive 679,856 miles in a modern EV, saving 36 tonnes of carbon emissions – the equivalent of planting nearly 600 trees and powering 50 homes.

The SCP will come pre-fitted with motion lighting, CCTV, advertising screens and full accessibility for wheelchair users.

 

“We have invested heavily in sustainability to achieve our 2030 carbon neutral goals,” said Philip McMullan, Senior Technical Lead on Major Energy Projects at Wiltshire Council.

“The new solar installations at Five Rivers will help reduce our carbon footprint and support the local community with the transition to zero emission motoring by strengthening the county’s EV charging infrastructure.

 

3ti solar power car park design

3ti Five Rivers installation

“Our job is to champion workplace and destination EV charging to promote a charge where you stop mentality across the UK, while supporting customers to achieve their sustainability goals,” said Tim Evans, Founder and CEO at 3ti.

“Better EV charging infrastructure at destinations with long dwell times - offices, hospitals and leisure facilities like Five Rivers - will encourage greater EV adoption rates; it’s refreshing to see Wiltshire Council adopting such a forward-thinking approach, and we are honoured to play a part in their sustainability vision.

“We are constantly evolving our SCP products and are proud to feature these innovative new designs, construction materials and techniques at Five Rivers. Introducing these features means we can offer better durability and versatility than conventional materials and significantly reduce carbon emissions generated across the entire product lifecycle.

“This installation marks a major milestone on our journey to supporting customers and society as a whole; we will continue to work with facilities around the UK to roll out installations to support future generations and ‘leave something better behind’”.

Easily search for destination charging in the Zapmap app or web map by selecting preferred location types to park up and charge in the filter menu.