Solar Carports
Turn a car park into a power station: shade and shelter below, clean generation above, EV charging built in.
Where roof space is limited, a car park is often the next best asset. Solar carports generate clean power overhead while sheltering vehicles below, and integrate neatly with EV charging.
It's generation, weather protection and charging infrastructure from a single structure.
Cornerstone Group designs, builds, installs and commissions commercial solar carports for UK businesses, councils, universities, hospitals and industrial sites: a structural canopy over your existing car park with solar PV on the roof, generating renewable energy while sheltering vehicles, with EV charging ready to scale.
What’s included
Why a solar carport
Your car park is one of the most viable places for solar: a mid-sized car park can fit a 250–500 kWp array without losing bays. Wired into your existing electrical infrastructure, it powers your site or sells surplus back to the grid, and pairs naturally with battery storage and EV charging.
Benefits
- Generate clean electricity from otherwise dead space, without losing parking bays.
- Cut energy costs and hedge against price volatility.
- Cut carbon: a 500 kWp carport removes roughly 100–120 tonnes of CO₂ a year.
- Feed EV chargers directly from short cable runs during daylight.
- Shelter vehicles, with optional LED lighting for staff safety.
Is your site suitable?
Carports usually make economic sense from around 40–50 bays. We assess ground conditions and foundations (piled vs ballasted), grid connection capacity and DNO requirements, orientation and shading, and planning, usually permitted development with a prior-approval notification.
Our process
One team from first visit to handover: feasibility and site survey; design and planning including DNO applications; groundworks and foundations; structure and panel installation with inverters, storage and EV integration; and commissioning and certification to BS 7671. The canopy has a 25-year-plus design life; panels typically carry a 25–30 year performance warranty.
Seen in our projects.
Charge and generate where you park.
Illustrative examples of solar carport canopies and commercial EV charge points of the kind we design and install.
Guides and project stories.
GuidesCommercial solar payback explained: what affects it and how long it takesHow commercial solar payback works, what drives it, from daytime demand to roof condition, and how we model yours before you commit.Read the article 
GuidesBattery storage for business: when it makes sense and what it deliversWhen commercial battery storage makes sense, how it lifts solar self-consumption and how it keeps your business running through outages.Read the article 
Project spotlightProject spotlight: Booker Watford roof and solarHow a roof that was due for replacement became the platform for a 334 kWp solar array at Booker Watford, with a 3.1-year payback.Read the article Power your business with solar.
Our renewables team designs, installs and maintains commercial solar, storage and EV charging across the North West and the UK.
Solar carports questions answered.
Can't see your question here? Our team is happy to talk it through.
Will we lose parking spaces with a solar carport?
No. The canopy sits over your existing car park, and a mid-sized car park can fit a 250 to 500 kWp array without losing bays.
How big does our car park need to be?
Solar carports usually make economic sense from around 40 to 50 bays. We'll assess your site, including orientation, shading and grid connection capacity, to confirm.
Do solar carports need planning permission?
They are usually permitted development with a prior-approval notification. We handle design and planning, including DNO applications, as part of the process.
What foundations does a solar carport need?
We assess ground conditions to decide between piled and ballasted foundations, then carry out the groundworks ourselves as part of one team from first visit to handover.
How long will a solar carport last?
The canopy has a design life of 25 years or more, and panels typically carry a 25 to 30 year performance warranty. Lighting, drainage and EV charging can all be built in.
Let's talk about your next project.
One call reaches the whole group. Tell us what you need and we'll bring the right teams together.
