On hot, sunny days when air conditioners threaten to overload the power grid, solar power generation makes a lot of sense.

Parking lots in asphalt-rich cities have great solar potential because the panels can be oriented to optimize power production during summer afternoons when electricity is most valuable.

Google, for example, has installed solar canopies on its parking lots to satisfy 30 percent of its headquarters' power demand.

Because the parking lots for most commercial buildings are bigger than the buildings themselves, economies of scale for large installations can further reduce the cost of the solar panels.

We shouldn't wait until the next heat wave to think about getting solar power from our parking lots.

so cool, thanks

As NOVA pointed out in a recent special, a solar friendly federal government policy would be a big help. It's working very well in Germany, it seems. Thing is, doing that in the US would require the pissing off of the big campaign contributors in the coal and petroleum industries by taking their pork away to make room for new players.

Someday our government will have to grow up and stand up for what is right for everyone... and stop letting big companies bully us and push us away from the solutions.

Since we're unlikely to be able to get rid of parking lots any time soon, this sounds like a definite improvement over the current situation.