World’s first solar panel road opens in Normandy village

Ségolène Royal, Minister of Environment, Energy and Sea, unveils one kilometer of Wattway solar road in Normandy, (France)

On Thursday 22nd December 2016, the first major project on the Wattway solar road is inaugurated by Ségolène Royal, Minister of Environment, Energy and Sea, Jean-Claude Lenoir, Orne Senator, Véronique Louwagie, Orne Deputy and Guy Monhée, Tourouvre-au-Perche Mayor and Departmental Council of Orne Vice-President.

This Wattway trial site, made of 2,880 photovoltaic panels, is installed on the RD5, between Tourouvre south exit and the crossing with the N12, in le Gué-à-Pont locality.

This project is part of the energy transition law which involves innovative and ambitious projects achievement.

The electricity produced by this solar road stretch will be sent to the Enedis* network (*French electricity provider). The expected annual production is 280 MWh. The daily production will fluctuate according to weather and seasons. On average, the estimated electrical output will reach 767 kWh per day, with peaks up to 1,500 kWh per day in summer.

An information panel installed near the solar road will indicate the immediate production as well as the total production since the installation. This panel will be powered by electricity generated via Wattway panels.

For Wattway Director, Jean-Charles Broizat, this project is an important step in Wattway solar road development: “We are still on an experimental phase. Building a trial site of this scale is a real opportunity for our innovation. This trial site has enabled us to improve our photovoltaic panels installing process as well as their manufacturing, in order to keep on optimizing our innovation.”