World’s first pop-up mini solar car park unveiled in Guildford
Last updated 26th May 2022
Guildford has welcomed a pop-up mini solar car park which aims to help grow the UK's electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure.
Papilio3 is based on a recycled shipping container and offers both solar charging and battery charging.
Mark Potter is the Chief Technical Officer of 3ti, the company who developed Papilio3.
Mark spoke about how Papilio3 works. He said:
"Papilio3 has three technologies built in. It's got solar panels, it's got a battery and it's got an EV charger.
"It uses a combination of grid energy and solar energy to charge the vehicles, the battery acts as a buffer between those sources and the vehicle.
"The more charge stations there are, the more we can support the transition to electric vehicles.
"Because it's got solar on there, it improves the carbon intensity of the electricity that is being used to charge those vehicles in the first place."
Each Papilio3 unit offers 12 EV charge points and is able to be deployed to a site in just 24 hours.
Due to the nature of UK housing, only 50% of UK houses are able to charge an EV at home, which demonstrates the need for destination and workplace charging.
Papilio3 has been designed to be rolled out in existing car parks at workplaces and other destinations, such as tourist attractions, shopping centres, hospitals and hotels.
The government’s proposed ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030 means the UK will need 2.8 million public electric vehicle charge points by 2035. Currently, there are only 52,000 in the UK and being installed at a rate of 17,000 per year.
3ti design, install, fund and operate Solar Car Parks (SCP).
Based in Leatherhead, 3ti want to create a change in how the UK view electric cars, including shifting to a way that EV drivers can charge when they stop, rather than stopping to charge.
Tim Evans is 3ti's CEO, he said:
"We've adopted a rental model for Papilio3. For a lot of small businesses and other organisations, the capital cost of putting in permanent EV chargers is really quite high.
"At the moment no one really knows how much they are going to be used, so it's pure speculation when most people are investing in electric vehicle charge points.
"They can rent one, rent a unit which has up to 12 charge points, they can try it and see how much uptake it has.
"At the end of the day, the power that's coming out of this is as green as it possibly can be."
The policy of renting a unit has the benefits for businesses to begin to see how much use an EV charging system will be needed, which as we get closer to the government's target for sole use of electric vehicles, should see an increase in charging points.
Papilio3 is manufactured in the UK, using recycled shipping containers. Each unit has illuminated, sheltered and secure parking that can be applied to whichever location.
Papilio3 supports a mixture of 7, 11 and 22 kilowatts charging. The batteries store up to 250 kilowatts of power and is fitted with 36 solar panels.
Edmund King OBE, AA President is a strong advocate of electric vehicles and the need of developing new, innovative and necessary charging infrastructure.
He said:
"One of the biggest stopping points for people moving electric is where do I charge, when do I charge and that really is a consideration, particularly if you haven't got off street parking at home.
"We need a range of solutions. We need rapid chargers on the motorways, we need chargers on the street.
"But also we need innovative solutions where people park all day - destination charging. So I think the Papilio3 solution will help there.
"Once people see more of these set ups, it encourages them more to make that leap to go electric."