French car parks will be required to install solar panels in the next 3-5 years

12 December 2022

In 2019, a French court ordered its Government to ‘repair’ the country’s emissions shortcomings between 2015 and 2018 by then end of 2022.

With the deadline now looming, the French Senate has approved a bill which requires car parks with 80 or more parking spaces to install solar panels covering at least half the area of the car park itself.

Car parks with 80-400 spaces has been set a deadline of five years (as of July 2023) to install solar panels, and those with more than 400 spaces have been set a deadline of three years from the same date.

Potential exemptions to the bill include: 

• Car parks with technical, safety, architectural, heritage and environmental constraints.
• Car parks shaded by trees covering at least half their area.
• Car parks for trucks.
• Car parks at which installation of panels "cannot be met under economically acceptable conditions".

The French Government says the new bill could generate up to 11 gigawatts of energy — the equivalent of 10 nuclear reactors – and is additionally looking at building large solar farms on vacant land next to highways, railroad tracks and agricultural areas.

There has yet to be any clarity about whether the French Government will support car park operators in financing the installations.

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