The French have set a major milestone for renewable energy across the globe by launching the first solar road in 2016. Located in Tourouvre, a town of 5,000 people in Normandy, France, this is a groundbreaking road covered by solar panels that can harness energy for street lighting.
Within this one-kilometer stretch of the highway, resin-coated solar panels have been installed with the ability to handle heavy traffic as well as poor weather conditions. These panels operate by being directly linked to the local power grid.
Every day, approximately 2,000 cars travel along the road, testing the panels to their limits. The project is developed by a French civil engineering organization called Colas. Colas is a subsidiary of construction conglomerate Bouygues, so they have designed the project to test the durability and, ultimately, its long-term quality.
The idea behind solar roads is very simple, but it is highly impactful. It is noted that roads are utilized by cars only 20 percent of the time, and as such, a greater area can be made useful by harnessing solar energy from the surface. The use of solar roads has the possibility of transforming cities through clean electricity.
This is the idea being discussed in several countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States, as they seek alternative innovative ways to increase the use of renewable energy without requiring additional land use.
Similar principles guide the development of large-scale projects, such as solar roads. These sustainable energy systems are designed to integrate well with the existing infrastructure, as shown in Commercial Solutions and Industrial Solutions.
Bringing Solar Innovation Home
Inspired by this level of technology and sustainability? The benefits of solar energy are not just confined to large-scale public projects. The same clean and cost-effective energy is available for your personal use.
By choosing Residential Solutions, homeowners will not only produce their own electricity but also save money in the long run by being independent of public supply. Excess energy generated by these solutions and fed into the grid through Net Metering will actually pay for the solar panels themselves.
The future of energy is now, and to get there, it just takes one bright idea to harness solar.