France Wants To Cover 600 Miles Of Road In Solar Panels

The idea of installing solar panels on roads isn’t particularly new. In fact if anything, it is an obvious choice due to the amount of roads available, not to mention that on open highways, many of them will be exposed to sunlight, which in turn will let them store the power for later. However the French government plans to take it to the next level.

French ecology minister Ségolène Royal recently announced plans to cover 1,000 km worth of roads in solar panels over the course of the next five years. If the project is successful, it is expected to be able to generate enough power where it can provide energy to as many as 5 million people living in France, which is roughly 8% of the country’s entire population.

Granted it does seem a bit small, but at the same time we suppose it’s still better than nothing. The project, dubbed Wattway, is currently under development by French civil engineering group Colas and according to the project’s assistant developer, Nicolas Griglio, “The biggest challenge was the innovation itself: be able to protect the solar cells (200 micrometers thick) while a vehicle (several tons sometimes) can drive on it.”

The panels themselves have been designed with a grippy material that can reduce skidding and accidents, and are also thin and flexible enough to be able to adapt and respond with the expansion and contraction of the pavement which happens when it gets too hot or too cold.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Green, Transportation
Tags: Solar