The French Minister of Ecology and Energy, Ségolène Royal, has announced that the country plans to cover 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) of roads with solar panels, according to the Global Construction Review. A 1-kilometer segment of the surface, called Wattway, can generate enough power for a town of 5,000 people, according to Colars, the manufacturer of the panels. This means the energy-generating road surfaces could provide power for as much as 8 percent of the French population, or about 5 million people.
Installing the solar-panel surface over the 621 miles of existing roads is expected to take five years. The surface is 7 mm thick, or about a quarter inch, and has photovoltaic cells arranged like tiles in a polycrystalline silicon layer that is applied directly to the road. The panels should be strong enough to support fully-loaded trucks and provide the same amount of traction as asphalt. Testing on the solar-panel road surface is expected to begin in the spring.
The Netherlands built a 70-meter (230-foot) solar-panel bike path in 2014, though the scope of the French plan dwarfs that project. Japan is also working to construct innovative solar plants, though theirs float on reservoirs and other bodies of water.
What we don't know now is how much the solar road surface will cost, how it will stand up to inclement weather, and how long it will last until stretches of road need to be replaced. But if the surface truly is as sturdy and reliable as asphalt, covering roads with something that can make use of all that sunshine seems like a no-brainer.
Source: Global Construction Review
Can this really be a sustainable way for the built enviroment? Is solar technology ready for this use?
Some of the comments online say:
"Brilliant idea of optimizing space and concretizing sustainability concepts in the built environment. We need such lessons in Zambia. Power deficit has created artificial shocks in the economy and big disturbance socio-economic issues
Francis Mwape | Posted: January 26th 2016"
"This really seems impracticable. The electrical panel connections are exposed to pooling water in the rain. The panels are near horizontal, which makes sense at the equator, but loses a lot of efficiency in Northern countries. The surface will be quickly worn by traffic, and will get dirty and scuffed up very quickly. It looks like the panels must be shoulder to shoulder - looks fine on the pictured parking lot, but road surfaces frequently crack and separate, making the mounting surface uneven, placing stress on the panels. We'll see, but this idea is up against a number of real-world problems."
Joseph Palmer | Posted: January 26th 2016
What do you think?
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Video credits to IFLScience.
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