© Reuters
The French minister for ecology, sustainability, development, and energy, Segolene Royal, at the inauguration of the Normandy solar road.
Solar roads were promised to be one of the biggest unprecedented revolutions of our time, not just in the field of renewable energy but in the energy sector generally.
Covering 2,800 square meters, Normandy's solar road was the first in the world, inaugurated in 2016, in Tourouvre-au-Perche, France.
Despite the hype surrounding solar roads,
two years after this one was introduced as a trial, the project has turned out to be a colossal failure — it's neither efficient nor profitable, according to a report by
Le Monde.
The unfortunate truth is that this road is in such a poor state,
it isn't even worth repairing. Last May, a 100-meter stretch had deteriorated to such a state that it had to be demolished.
According to
Le Monde's report, various components of the road don't fit properly — panels have come loose and some of the solar panels have broken into fragments.
On top of the damage and poor wear of the road, the Normandy solar track also failed to fulfill its energy-production goals. The original aim was to produce 790 kWh each day, a quantity that could illuminate a population of between 3,000 and 5,000 inhabitants.
But the rate produced stands at only about 50% of the original predicted estimates.
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