Six Flags Magic Mountain Turns Parking Into Power With California's Biggest Solar Carport

Six Flags Magic Mountain has flipped a familiar idea on its head: instead of letting its parking lots sit idle under the California sun, the Valencia theme park now uses them to generate power. A newly completed 12.37-megawatt solar carport array is being billed as the largest of its kind in California, and among the biggest single-site commercial solar carport projects anywhere in the United States.

The numbers behind the build are substantial. Working with solar developer Solar Optimum, the park mounted 22,908 bifacial solar panels — modules that capture light on both faces, including reflections bouncing off the pavement below — across 36 carport structures. Together the canopies cover roughly 637,000 square feet and provide shade for about 4,315 parking spaces, split between 3,544 guest spots and 771 employee spots. For visitors trudging back to a sun-baked car after a long day of rides, the shade alone is a welcome upgrade.

Drivers of electric vehicles get an extra benefit: the installation includes 109 charging connectors spread across the guest and employee areas. A 2 MW/8 MWh battery system sits alongside the array, storing surplus power for later use — at its rated output, that is roughly four hours of discharge. Six Flags estimates the panels will produce around 20.8 million kWh annually, enough to cover the yearly electricity needs of both Magic Mountain and the adjacent Hurricane Harbor Los Angeles water park.

The parks remain tied to utility Southern California Edison, drawing from the grid when on-site generation falls short and exporting excess electricity when demand and battery storage are already satisfied. The stated goal is to offset 100% of annual electricity consumption. Because the panels sit above land already devoted to parking, the same footprint serves three purposes at once: housing cars, delivering shade, and producing clean energy.

Construction formally began on November 1, 2023, involving Solar Optimum and DSD Renewables. Magic Mountain is not the chain’s first foray into solar — earlier installations took shape at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Northern California and Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. The project also lands in a category that has drawn growing attention from businesses with large, underused surface lots: stadiums, campuses, and now theme parks, where parking infrastructure doubles as a power plant.