Sector checklist
Retail & Supermarket Car Parks Solar Carport Buyer's Guide and Checklist
A buyer's checklist for supermarket and retail park car parks: per-bay capex, customer EV charging, AIA stacking and planning.
Key Retail & Supermarket Car Parks numbers
£185k
Modelled annual saving at 525 kWp / 420 bays
28
Customer EV chargers in the modelled example
1.8 MWp
Modelled four-store pilot on the retail sector page
4.1 yr
Modelled payback after AIA
The Retail & Supermarket Car Parks Solar Carport Checklist
This checklist is for retail & supermarket car parks buyers — typically finance directors, sustainability heads, estate managers or procurement leads — and sets out what to check, ask and budget for before a carport project goes to tender.
What to check
- Economics: build a budget for your size of site (200, 500 or 1,000 bays) and compare per-bay capex and payback with the quotes you receive
- Customer EV charging: decide whether chargers are a footfall driver, standalone revenue or both, and size the grid connection for them
- Heritage: if the car park is in or near a Conservation Area, ask the planning authority about design constraints before drawings are finalised
- Live trading: ask how the build will be sequenced so bays stay in use
- Sustainability evidence: check what the project can contribute to frameworks such as ASDA-Walmart, Tesco Stronger Starts and Sainsbury's Plan for Better
- Worked example: see the modelled retail example on the retail sector page for how the numbers fit together
How to use the checklist
- Run an internal feasibility estimate for your site profile
- Identify the right funding route (capital allowances / PPA / asset finance / nation-specific public-sector programmes)
- Build the business case for board/committee approval
- Know what to ask installers when running a competitive tender
Before you appoint an installer
- Check the installer's MCS certificate on the MCS register where the scheme applies, and OZEV authorisation if EV chargers are included
- Ask who holds the principal designer and principal contractor roles under CDM 2015
- Ask for a RIDDOR record and a current CHAS, SafeContractor or Constructionline certificate
- Ask who submits the planning and G99 grid applications, and what the quote includes
- Ask what the O&M agreement and the manufacturer warranties cover
Related on solarcarparks.co.uk
What happens next: We reply by email to your question about the car park. There is no PDF to download; the checklist on this page is the guide.