France builds first solar road
New road to provide clean energy for street lights, homes and businesses, has same grip as regular surfaceFrance has won the race to become the first European country to build a solar paved road.
The 1km stretch of road, that was unveiled by French environment minister Segolene Royal, was said to have cost €5 million (A$6.7 million) to construct.
Consisting of 2800 square metres of solar panels, the road is claimed to provide enough electricity to power street lighting of a local village.
The road, only used by 2000 motorists a day, will undergo a two-year test by the French government to see if the new technology, developed by British engineering firm, Colas, is really viable.
At just 7mm thick the small panels, called Wattway tiles, can be lined on any typical road because they’ve been engineered to offer similar levels of grip to a normal road’s surface.
Able to withstand the weight of even the heaviest of trucks, it’s claimed that just four metres of a panel-lined road can provide all the electricity the typical French home needs (if you exclude heating).
In the future, Colas hopes, Wattway tiles will be relied on as a serious source of green energy to power street lamps, road signs, homes, businesses and shops, and go on to become a source of power to remote, off the grid parts of the country.
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