The Parking Lot as ‘Solar Grove’

One day early in 2004, Robert Noble, an architect specializing in sustainable design, asked himself why parking lots in the United States weren’t covered in solar panels and used to generate clean energy. A few firms had been building carports with solar panels for some time, but none had acquired a major presence or branched out much beyond the residential market.

"Parking lots are this wasteland – they’re the last thing that gets attention,” Mr. Noble said in an interview. "Here’s a market the size of Alpha Centauri that’s never been tapped.”