In 2023, while studying the accelerating climate crisis, I stumbled across a concept called “multisolving.” I’ve been hooked ever since.
Multisolving is the art of tackling multiple problems with a single, elegant solution. Designing a walkable city, for example, doesn’t just make walking easier — it breathes life into local businesses, slashes tailpipe emissions, and keeps residents healthier and happier.
Coined by Dr. Elizabeth Sawin, multisolving is so universally applicable that once you see it, it’s hard to unsee it. And in the world of solar, where the investment happens up front, multisolving isn’t just smart — it’s essential.
A backyard revelation
One day in the autumn of 2024, I stood in my backyard scrutinizing my solar array.
Eighteen panels mounted on steel tubes. Sturdy, sure — but also so leaky that I can’t use the space beneath. And while I can appreciate function over form, the industrial steel racking doesn’t exactly enhance the pastoral beauty of my land.
My solar was solar-ing, and that was it. No shelter, no aesthetic beauty, no secondary benefit. Just 6,300 watts of power that had cost me $4.44 per watt in 2019 ($5.55/watt in today's dollars).
And then it hit me — why should residential solar only produce electricity? What if it could do more? What if it could provide shelter, boost property value, and make a backyard or driveway feel artful rather than cluttered? What if a solar carport could deliver all the benefits of solar while solving multiple problems at once?
The case for multi-functional solar
Physically, a solar panel is simply a big, ultra-durable rectangle. And big, ultra-durable rectangles are quite useful in providing shelter. Today’s bifacial solar panels can withstand hurricane-force winds, hail, heat, cold, and other terrible things without flinching. They also capture sunlight from both sides, boosting energy output while allowing soft, dappled light to filter through. In other words, they’re the perfect carport roof.
Yet most ground-mounted solar arrays are built solely to generate power, ignoring their potential as shelter. My friend Jake and I started digging into the problem. We had seen beautiful timber-framed solar carports dotted around northern Vermont, but they were a high-end luxury item that could double the cost of the system.
That didn’t sit right with us. A solar carport should be a smart investment above all other things. Paying $7+ per watt for a premium carport cancels out the return on investment, particularly in a cloudy, snowy place. An affordable solar carport that doesn’t compromise between cost-effectiveness and design would be a game-changer.
We asked ourselves: what would our solar carport have to do to satisfy us?
Designing the ultimate solar carport
A lot, actually. It would have to:
✔ Generate plenty of power
✔ Be completely waterproof
✔ Provide a wide, functional shelter
✔ Look stunning and increase property value
Nope, not enough. We wanted more. It would also have to:
✔ Use sustainable materials instead of carbon-intensive steel
✔ Use the entire structure as the “ground mount” to qualify for the 30% federal tax credit
✔ Support small, local businesses instead of big-box suppliers
✔ Withstand extreme weather — 180-mph winds, heavy snowfall, and deluges of rain
✔ Be easy to assemble and scalable
To make things more difficult, we added one more item to the list:
✔ It had to cost less than the ground-mounted solar in my yard.
A blueprint for innovation
The problem, of course, was cost.
As a lifelong cheapskate, I figured the very best way to create an affordable, no-compromise solar carport was to design one for myself.
Armed with our long list of criteria, we spent months refining every detail. From opting for local sawmills over box stores for lumber, to engineering for the very worst weather, we were able to knock off every item on the list.
Along the way, we stumbled upon new ideas to further reduce impact: compressing the sawdust into wood pellets to heat our workshop, creating manufacturing techniques to more efficiently work the timbers, and differentiating between what adds value and what simply adds cost.
The result: the Kingdom Sunport
This solar carport qualifies for net metering and the 30% investment tax credit. It is available in 6.4-, 8-, 12.8-, and 17.6-kilowatt versions spanning one to three bays.
And here’s the kicker: it costs less than my backyard ground-mount solar. 37% less.
It does so much more, looks better, and will put a smile on my face every time I marvel at it. Made of Vermont eastern hemlock, a rot-resistant timber that will outlive the solar panels themselves, the Kingdom Sunport is built to last for generations. We’ve partnered with a family-run sawmill in northern Vermont and a network of small installation teams across New England. Instead of steel, which has a high carbon footprint, our structures act as carbon sinks, making sustainable forestry more economically viable and reducing the incentive to clear-cut land for development.
Solar can do more. It should do more.
If you’re considering solar, it makes sense to multisolve whenever you can.
A solar carport like the Kingdom Sunport isn’t just a power source — it’s a smarter way to harness renewable energy while getting a beautiful carport out of the deal.
And it works overtime to earn its keep.