Neville Mars, solar forest parking and charging station, 2009
Neville Mars, solar forest, shade, energy for charging stations. If the grumpy comments on design boom are anything to go by, an expensive solution: the plates have to rotate to follow the sun, lifespan of a panel is only 6 years, so much maintenance of the forest, etc etc.
Solar Forest reminds me very much of SOM's giant 1972 oasis at King Abdul Aziz Airport in Jeddah, a tented open-air terminal to accommodate the millions of Haj pilgrims that go through the airport each year on their way to Mecca. 120 acres/2.8 million square feet: it is large. From the AIA site:'The tent structure that makes up the terminal’s roof strongly resembles vernacular Bedouin shelters and Hajj pilgrim tents that spring up around Mecca during the Hajj season.'
Well, that is a hook I suppose, much as Neville Mars' collection of charging stations strongly resembles vernacular forests. Might we have a planted forest, pumping out oxygen and acting as a CO2 sink, with short poles with sockets on them, something like block heater plugs in parking lots in the great white north? Something like this:
Typical winter block-heater use parking lot anywhere on the prairies.Oh, but I forgot, we need the solar panels to charge the cars with. What about the pavement? Clearly not with snow on it, a problem with weather no matter where these panels are.