Solar car park and EV charging for Five Rivers leisure centre

Wiltshire Council's Five Rivers Health & Wellbeing Centre is installing a 3ti solar car park constructed from sustainable timber beams and solar panels with bifacial technology, which is due to open in April.

The facility also includes Papilio3® pop-up solar car park and EV charging hub which is built around a recycled shipping container.

The hub can fast charge 12 EVs at 7, 11 or 22kW simultaneously, and is pre-fitted with a range of innovations and safety features, including motion lighting, CCTV, advertising screens and full accessibility for wheelchair users. Papilio3 can be rented on a monthly basis from 3ti.

The structure of the main solar car park is made from Glulam, renewable, recyclable wood laminations bonded together to offer a natural alternative to steel or concrete. It is three times stronger and a third lighter, and uses only a tenth of the energy it would take to produce an equivalent steel beam. The material has minimal environmental impact from its production, is highly repairable, and is an excellent biofuel at the end of its life.

The solar installation at Five Rivers comprises three gullwing solar canopies covering 70 car park spaces, with a combined total capacity of c.220 kWp. The leisure centre will use 100% of the solar generation on-site, which will contribute approximately 10% of overall electricity demand at the site, saving around £50,000 a year on electricity bills. In its first year, the Five Rivers SCP is expected to generate 186MWh of electricity, enough to drive 679,856 miles in a modern EV, saving 36 tonnes of carbon emissions – the equivalent of planting nearly 600 trees and powering 50 homes.

The canopies are fitted with transparent Glass-Glass solar panels from German manufacturer, Solarwatt®. The panels offer high efficiency and long-term yields thanks to their bifacial technology, which means solar energy is captured on both sides of the panel increasing total energy generation. The solar cells are embedded in a highly durable Glass-Glass composite protecting them from challenging environmental and mechanical stress, including snow and hailstorms, and are ammonia and salt mist resistant.