Three Years Later, the French Solar Road Is a Total Flop

Popular Mechanics ^ | 08/16/2019 | David Grossman

[Kid Shelleen]

It was a solar experiment that seemed ingenious in its simplicity: fill a road with photovoltaic panels and let them passively soak up the rays as cars drive harmlessly above. The idea has been tried a few times, notably in rural France in 2016 with what was christened the "Wattway."

Three years later, even the most optimistic supporters have deemed the Wattway a failure.

[Kid Shelleen]

It's not a TOTAL failure if some well connected leftys made money on it...

[dp0622]

That was always the main reason to begin with I’m sure.

[SamAdams76]

Oh look! Politicians lining up for a staged photo shoot in order to take credit for this boondoggle. Aren't we all for the environment and such!

Where are they today?

[Rurudyne]

If certain Leftist could make money off of the wall we’d have a wall.

[BobL]

The Left is UNWILLING to listen to people who have technical capability that they simply DO NOT HAVE - otherwise they wouldn’t have majored in liberal arts and women’s studies.

So they fall for crap like Solyndra and this ‘solar road’...every time. That’s why putting them in charge of spending tax money is VERY RISKY for any country.

[fproy2222]

Try,fail, figure out why, try again.

The earlier step of paving a driveway with solar cells works.

I am happy they are trying to lower our carbon footprint and not just complaining about it.

[FatherofFive]

At the time, the region's capital city of Caen only got 44 days of strong sunshine a year, and not much has changed since.

They expected global warming to increase the sunshine.

[Bob434]

Watt? It Failed? That’s unpossible!

[I want the USA back]

What a dumb idea! Any one of us could have told them that! And no one is accountable for the waste of taxpayer money.

[Bob434]

[[I am happy they are trying to lower our carbon footprint]]

Why? There’s no reason to- man’s CO2 takes up just 0.00136% of the atmosphere- nowhere near enough to be causing global climate change, even IF carbon was responsible for climate change, which is isn’t- records show temps rise first- then 100’s of years later- nearly 1000 years later, CO2 rises- this proves CO2 is not driving climate change in and of itself-

[Ed Condon]

AHHHH, the old “cut and try” engineering.

[USS Alaska]

Try,fail, figure out why, try again.

If you are using your own money, fine.

This is a tax payer funded boondoggle.

Carbon foot print my ass. That is a total fraud, and you posting that crap, makes me wonder about you.

[Deplorable American1776]

Oops...fail...big time...oh well, better luck next time

WITH YOUR OWN MONEY!!!

[jmclemore]

The Left is UNWILLING to listen to people who have technical capability that they simply DO NOT HAVE - otherwise they wouldn’t have majored in liberal arts and women’s studies. Reality is that they want legislation to give them control over markets for which they do not control or derive wealth from. They are trying to flip commerce from free market capitalist to socialist controlled organization. If they can switch public dependency from petroleum to solar and wind, they will control energy demand and through that, all. If they control energy, they rule everything. Your personal solar panels will eventually be required to attach to the grid because your unused, wasted energy should be available to the public/government. They don't want to end capitalism. They just want to end the general public's exercise of it. The want to be capitalist with little to no competition. If they ever attain it, the socialist elites will enslave everyone to ensure they remain equal to each other but forever beneath THEM.

[GOPJ]

If certain Leftist could make money off of the wall we’d have a wall.

Maybe we've been missing the obvious. Want funding for the Wall? Bribe democrats... give the little twerps kickbacks - - we'd have cash all over the place.

[mass55th]

"It's not a TOTAL failure if some well connected leftys made money on it..."

They learned well from the Barack Obama School of Solar Energy.

[gunnut]

I am all for trying new things as an experiment but this could have been done on a much smaller scale at a much lower price.

[Clay Moore]

It’s been known for >40 yrs that the efficiency of photo cells depends on their surface being clean and perfectly smooth. So they figure they can let tires grind silica into the surface day in and day out and not have massive shortfalls in expected energy output?

For every credibility gap there is a gullibility fill.

[catnipman]

“The earlier step of paving a driveway with solar cells works.”

i guess you didn’t read the article: NO solar panels laid flat make sense because they face the sun for only a very limited time ... not to mention solar panels make little sense in climates with limited sunshine to start with ...

[Deplorable American1776]

Tell the leftists that they can put solar panels on the wall...they’ll go for it!!