Solar carports are gaining traction across the world and now Italian-designed solar carports are coming to the U.S., thanks to renewz sustainable solutions’ new isola carport. The Giulio Barbieri-designed carports are designed for quick installation and intended for commercial purposes like at car dealerships or real estate companies, where they can be used partly as advertising purposes in addition to providing power onsite or even charging electric vehicles.

Even though renewz hasn’t officially unveiled the product yet, it’s already taken it’s first orders, according to Peress. “We expect the show to bring us a lot of business,” he said.

renewz, of Montreal, Canada, will introduce the carports—after setting one up—at the EVS26 Electric Vehicle Symposium in Los Angeles, which starts May 6. “We plan to build it in four hours,” said renewz CEO Sass Peress. That’s because the systems are ballasted with cement rather than requiring any ground-penetrating mounting. The structures are wind, snow and earthquake tested, he said.

The devices come with Eaton Corporation electronics and EVSE chargers for electric vehicles. But the structures are PV agnostic, according to Peress. That’s despite Barbieri having a partnership with SunPower in Italy to provide modules for residential solar carports.

“The Barbieri design is really easy to put together. There’s no onsite welding or cladding required. It’s easy to build and easy to maintain,” Peress said. “Deployment can be completed in two or three days, including electrical.” The quick installation makes it easier and quicker to have the carport certified and operational.

It’s the first time the Barieri carports are being offered in Canada and U.S. The structures are made of aluminum rather than steel and the carports can be customized beyond just offering two, four or six car sizes. They will be made to order with a variety of features on renewz’ website. Such customizations can include the color of the aluminum.

renewz’ site is being designed to maximize customers’ ability to customize the carports, making it easier for owners to make them suit their purposes. “We will bring a retail side to the industry…with more of a marketing sales approach to the website,” Peress said. At this point though it’s just focused on the commercial side. It plans to launch residential solar carports next year.

Image courtesy of Giulo Barbieri