Six Flags has installed one of the largest solar carports in the US

Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, just finished building one of the largest solar carports in the country over its parking lots. The 12.37-megawatt system covers about 637,000 square feet with nearly 23,000 solar panels mounted on 36 carport structures, shading roughly 4,315 parking spots for guests and employees. The panels are bifacial, meaning they capture sunlight on both sides, including light bouncing off the pavement below, which boosts how much power they generate.

The project is expected to produce about 20.8 million kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, enough to cover the combined power use of Magic Mountain and the neighboring Hurricane Harbor water park. A battery system (2 megawatts, 8 megawatt-hours) stores extra power for roughly four hours of use later in the day. The park stays connected to the local utility, Southern California Edison, pulling grid power when needed and sending surplus electricity back when its own generation and storage cover demand. The goal is to eventually offset all of the park's annual electricity use.

The installation also adds 109 EV charging connectors across the lots, so visitors driving electric cars have more places to plug in while they're at the park. It's a reminder of how much unused space sits over parking lots everywhere, and how carports like this one can combine shade, charging, and solar power generation on land that would otherwise just hold asphalt.