The French project developer Urbasolar, the solar subsidiary of Swiss energy provider Axpo, is currently roofing the huge car park of the Disneyland Paris amusement park with solar modules. Just in time for Disneyland Paris' 30th anniversary, the first section of the project has just been completed and put into operation.
The goal: 36 gigawatt hours of solar power per year.
This part of the plant alone will supply about ten gigawatt hours of clean solar electricity every year. In total, Urbasolar has installed about 46,000 modules so far, covering more than 7,000 of the total 11,200 parking spaces. The remaining part of the plant is scheduled for completion in 2023. Then the total module output of the solar car park roofing will increase to about 30 megawatts. The planned 82,000 modules will then cover the entire car park with an area of about 20 hectares. According to the planners' calculations, the system will then supply 36 gigawatt hours of electricity annually.
17 per cent of electricity demand
The project is part of Disneyland Paris' environmental strategy, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonise its energy supply. The solar car park canopy alone generates enough clean energy to cover around 17 per cent of the theme park's electricity needs. In addition, the service for visitors is improved. This is because their cars are no longer parked in the blazing sun but in a shady spot, which means they no longer heat up so much. This in turn saves the necessary air conditioning and thus petrol or diesel - at least as long as the visitors still come to the Paris amusement park in cars with combustion engines. At the same time, the solar roof also protects visitors from rain and snow.
Bespoke steel construction
For the solar car park roof, Urbasolar specially developed a steel construction that is painted in the same colour as the metal fences and lanterns in the amusement park. The carport system consists of T-beams on which a metal roof construction was mounted. On this metal roof, in turn, the modules were installed using a common mounting system. (su/mfo)
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