A small village in France which does not get much sunshine throughout the year has grabbed all the attention across the industry for introducing to the world its first solar roadway. This innovation has opened gates to a myriad of opportunities for the signage industry. The Normandy town of Tourouvre has turned the dream of using solar energy to power roadways into reality. Though installed only for a short stretch of 1 km, 2800 square meters of photovoltaic cells were used. In layman’s language; power from these many photovoltaic cells are enough to power an entire village’s street lights. Cost incurred for the project was close to 5 million Euros and is being used by approximately 2,000 motorists on a daily basis.
The solar panels are resin coated are very attractive and holds a huge potential for the signage industry in the future as it would curb the cost of paints entirely. This technology is capable of revolutionizing the entire signage industry as road signs can be made more flexible and most importantly can help cut down accidents by warning drivers of animals crossing the road.
France announced in January that it aims to install 1,000 kilometers of solar roads over the course of next five years. Following the example set by France, a Germany-based company named Solmove is gearing up to bring the solar powered roadways experience to Germany. Also, an Idaho-based US company has already gotten its solar roadways project sanctioned by the Government and has even received a funding of 2 million dollars to get started on the same.
