Did thunderstorms break solar panels on the road?

Thunderstorms also reportedly broke solar panels on the road. The trial road was meant to produce about 150,000 kWh a year, which is enough power to provide light for up to 5,000 people, every day. Instead, it was making just under 80,000 in 2018, and fewer than 40,000 by July 2019.

Is the French solar road a fiasco?

In July, the French daily newspaper Le Monde reported that the 0.6-mile (1 kilometre) solar road was a fiasco. In December 2016, when the trial road was unveiled, the French Ministry of the Environment called it "unprecedented".

What did the world's first solar panel road look like?

Here what the road looked like in all of its former glory, and how it got to this point. It was all smiles and high hopes in 2016, when the world's first solar panel road, called Wattway, opened. France spent US$5.2 million on 0.6 miles (1 kilometre) of road, and 30,000 square feet (3,000 square metres) of solar panels.

Are Solar Roadways a problem?

However, beyond the stunted energy generation that any solar panels face on cloudy days or at night, solar roadways presented unique new performance challenges. For example, vehicles constantly driving over solar roadways would interrupt sun exposure.

What challenges have solar roads faced?

Other solar roads across the globe have faced a variety of challenges. In 2018, a week after a solar road opened in China, its solar panels were stolen.

Are Solar Roadways cost-effective?

So, while one of the presumed benefits of solar roadways is the cost savings associated with self-generated energy, even back-of-the-envelope math highlights how the numbers would simply not add up to be more cost-effective in the long run.