Carports reconsidered

My friend really does want me to have a carport so she can keep her car cool when she moves in.  Also, when she comes over, I find it hard to get my car out of the garage due to limited space in my two car driveway.  For these two reasons, I want a 3 car driveway and a carport to match.  And since this is the best place on my entire property for solar panels, I also want it covered with 10kW of solar panels.

The concrete guy last week gave me a quick estimate that sounded very reasonable to add additional driveway area.  He felt that just adding some piers underneath the new section would be sufficient for a carport.  But I think the structural needs have to be considered all the way through this project.  Starting from the fact that the solar panels may add weight to the structure, and also add value that needs to be protected from the wind.

So the carport itself needs to be a fairly heavy structure that doesn't blow away.  If I weren't concerned about the solar panel aspect of the project, I might be very happy with one of these industrial strength carports from Stephen's Roofing.

That carport in Kirby (near where I live) is wide enough for 3 cars and was built around the existing two car driveway.  The structure itself is free standing, neither side has any attachment to the concrete driveway.  That would be great for me, since my driveway isn't wide enough.  But I wonder if such a structure is strong enough to deal with the highly expansive clay soil I have.  It might well be.  It also looks heavy and strong enough not to be flustered by wind.

I went to see the movie Chasing Ice last Friday night.  After the movie, Lanny Sinkin of Solar San Antonio spoke for awhile.  I went to the table in the back of the room and it was still showing the same federal and local incentives for installing solar that I almost acted upon last year.  I really do want to do this, for several reasons, even though my house still needs a lot of efficiency improvement as well.  But I need the carport right now.  Additional energy efficiency can be worked on over time.

Speaking of wind, an old standard used to specify 70mph wind bearing capacity.  The equivalent number is now 85 mph because the measurement standard has changed to short gusts rather than longer average.  According to this document, building where I live are supposed to be designed for 90mph wind gusts.  I'd like to push this to at least 110 mph to allow for the effects of global warming.