this post was submitted on 02 Jun 2026
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The structure for solar panels is much heavier than for pure sunshade, as a person will have to walk on it to install and maintain the panels. You also have to deal with the associated health and safety regulations for working at height and live electricity, as well as probably pay more for insurance since there is an increased risk of fire.
Why 1 purpose when 2 purpose possible?
Fuck cars, sure, but solar panels on roofing is smart.
I agree, multiple land use is the way forward. Solar panels for their own sake is seldom good enough land use, even if may be cheaper to set up.
Do you think that they build roofs that can't support people walking on them?
Yeah, I do, and I have good reason to, because I am a structural engineer and have designed them myself on occasion. A lot of these canopies over car and bike shelters are just a sheet of plexiglass.
Where are you designing these that they don’t need to support hundreds of pounds of snow or rain, or stand up to hail?
Northern/Western Europe.
Hail bounces off, rain flows off. For a very light duty structure like a smoking shelter, bike shelter or trolley corral, they sometimes have a curved plexiglass roof that snow can just fall off or be blown off. A person is a much more intense load than snow (a person's whole weight can be on one foot). The frame might take it, but the cladding may not.
Usually they are just a product off the shelf.
My parents just bought and installed a small off the shelf carport, it has its own built-in gutter system and the ability to hold 100s of pounds on its metal roof. Nobody is covering cars with plexiglass, that would literally defeat the purpose of having shade.
I've seen the plexiglass ones he was talking about
I’m not doubting they exist, it sure looks cool. I’m just doubting it would stand up to a couple years where I’m from, and I don’t think that you would even need to stand on that to install solar panels anyway.
Here's one for sale in Denmark, where I am, and where it snows. Polycarbonate instead of PMMA. Same thing. I wouldn't stand on it.
https://dancovershop.dk/products/carport-arizona-2-89x4-95m-palram-canopia-gra
Get an opaque sheeting if you want to keep UV off. Point stands.
... that thing wouldn’t protect your car from shit where I’m from… that wouldn’t even protect your car from the sun except at like noon.
Which are a canopies or awnings not a roof.
Fuck off lmao. A canopy is a roof.
No it's not, if you asked to have a roof installed and someone installed a fucking canopy over your house, you'd be pissed.
This is like asking for a truck and they show up with a station wagon and tell you well it's got foldable back seats.
Words have meaning.
They don't build parking shade roofs to support the weight of being covered in panels, though. That has to be planned for. A typical panel that's around five and a half foot by a bit less than 3 and a half foot weighs around forty pounds. Having like two of those on your covered spot at your house would probably hold fine. But to a large parking area will add a huge amount of weight.
Shade canopies or awnings...but yea solar is heavy.
Yes, when they're called "awnings."
Which isn't really a roof, it's just a cover.
Yes. It doesn't need to be 1 contiguous roof, gaps big enough to fit a ladder are ideal.
spoiler
That's more of an awning than a roof though. Plus that picture shows that this was specifically designed with the panels. As those are just straight solar panels and not roofing that's had solar installed to it.
Awnings are fabric lol. This is a roof made with solar panels, a solar roof.
And those panels are not light weight...so someone could walk on them if they wanted.
Do not walk on solar panels.