Colas' Wattway solar road wins award at COP21

The Wattway road was awarded a Climate Solutions Trophy on the 2^nd of December as part of the COP21 event in Paris. The award was presented to the CEO of Colas, Hervé Le Bouc, by Ségolène Royal, the French Minister of Ecology and Lechevin Bruno, the president of ADEME. Colas, a subsidiary of the Bouygues group and a market leader in the construction and maintenance of roads, presented a demonstration of its Wattway solar road at the COP21. The Wattway is a photovoltaic road surface capable of capturing solar energy, and thus generating electricity.   The product, which attractiveness is all too understandable, comes in the form of slabs, which Colas states are compatible with all types of roads. These slabs are laid and directly affixed onto the road surface and do not require any roadworks. Colas reveals that only 20m² of slabs are needed to provide the electricity needs (apart from heating) of a residence. According to Colas and ADEME, it would be possible to light a town of 5000 inhabitants using a linear kilometre of roadway.   Colas hope that this new solution will improve electricity generation in dense urban areas, but also provide electricity using local energy generation infrastructure in rural and remote areas, where connection costs are prohibitive.