I live in a part of the country where we have 300 days of sunlight a year. In the summer it is blazing hot and large areas of the ground are set aside of parking lots.
It would make sense, in my eyes, to use these areas for solar arrays. Right now when I see a solar aray it is covering a large area of open land which could be used for farming, grazing, or many other possibilites. Leave that land and use the large parking lots for solar arrays.
This is not a viable option for much of the country, but states such as Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado would be ideal candidates.
Not only does this free up land for other uses, but it provides shaded parking for patrons of the parking area. Cars and the asphalt itself can be blazing hot on a summer day and a shaded parking spot is always coveted. As electric cars become more prominent a parking meter-like charging station could be incorporated into the system as well. $.50 an our or something similar to plug your car in while it is in the lot.
A quick look at Phoenix or many other cities in these hot regions on google maps will show how much land is covered by black asphalt parking lots. Why not do a public service for citizens and work toward energy independence by covering them?
Edit: I failed to mention in my original writing that this energy could be fed into the national power grid, benefitting the entire country with a natural resource produced in a small area. It would be most beneficial in the summer months which is good because that is when things lik A/C use have cause issues with national power infrastructure. This power would be most available when it was most needed and could benefit anyone in the continental U.S..
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