The world’s first solar road was inaugurated on Thursday in a small village in sun-starved northern France.
Tourouvre in Orne, Normandy now boasts one kilometre of road consisting of 2,800 square metres of rugged solar panels strong enough to support heavy duty goods vehicles.
The two-year trial is expected to see the RD5 road used by 2,000 motorists each day while also generating sufficient power for all the public lighting in a town of 5,000 for a year.
“We wanted to find a second life for a road,” said Philippe Harelle, the chief technology officer at Colas, a subsidiary of French engineering group Bouygues. “Solar farms use land that could otherwise be for agriculture, while the roads are free.”
Preliminary testing of solar road panels had already taken place in four sites in France before the €5 million project, funded by the government, was undertaken in Tourouvre.
As the costs come down, solar panels are increasing being integrated into more objects, such as windows and building facades. Tesla Motors recently unveiled roof shingles which double as solar panels.
The efficacy of solar roads is not without its critics. The frailty of the materials and the costs of installation have been called into question, as has the belief that panels positioned on an incline produce more electricity. It is also as yet unknown how well the road panels will hold up to inclement weather.
