France Opens the World’s First Solar Panel Road in Normandy

France Opens the World’s First Solar Panel Road in Normandy

The world’s first solar panel road opens in the small French village, Tourouvre-au-Perche, in Normandy. The 1-Kilometer road is a part of the French government’s initiative to cover a 1,000km of the roads in France with solar panels. The road is expected to be used by approximately 2,000 motorists per day, generating 767 Kilowatt-hours which should be sufficient for supplying the 3,400-resident village’s streetlights with electricity.

The panels were manufactured by the construction company Colas. They were coated with 5 layers of silicon resin for protection. Before using them for the road in Normandy, they were tested at four parks across France.

The solar panel road proved to be highly costive with the 1km road in Normandy alone costing 5 million euros. However, the project directors believe that they are “still on an experimental phase.” They have learned new improved methods for the installation and manufacturing of the solar panels which can be used for the rest of the project.

The officials are waiting for the outcomes of this phase to decide whether the project satisfies the expected results from this clean energy experiment.