The country will pave over 1000km of roads with solar cells over the next five years.

France is to install solar cells on 621 miles of its roads, hoping to generate enough renewable energy for five million citizens.

The ‘Positive Energy Intiative’, outlined in the Global Construction Review, was recently announced by Ségolène Royal, the French Minister of Ecology and Energy. She plans on financing the project by raising taxes on gasoline, something she described as “natural,” given its falling prices. She estimates that this could contribute between 200- 300m euros ($220-440m) to the cost of solar-powered roads.
French infrastructure company Colas will be responsible for the project, which will use photovoltaic cells, or ‘wattway panels’ to collect solarenergy, using a thin film of polycrystalline silicon. The panels took five years to develop, can be used on any road, and are easily installed (7mm-thick photovoltaic strips are glued to the surface of the carriageway). They are slip-free, hard-wearing, and they allow for the passage of multiple vehicles and heavy loads. Funding has already been agreed, and testing will begin in spring.

According to France’s Agency of Environment and Energy Management, four miles of solar road is enough to supply one household’s electricity needs (except heating), and 1km will light a town with 5,000 inhabitants. This means the program- which will cover 1000km, or 621 miles of highway- could provide clean electricity to approximately 8% of the Frenchpopulation.

France is becoming a world leader in green initiatives, with laws prohibiting supermarkets from throwing out good food, a ban on Monsanto herbicides, and legislation obliging citizens to have solar panels or roofgardens on all new-built homes…Read More at Rise Earth

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