France requires all large car parks to install solar roofs by law

    The French Senate has approved new legislation that will boost the deployment of renewable energy in France and requires that outdoor parking lots be legally installed with Plaque Solaire solar power.

    According to French senator Jean-Pierre Corbisez, large outdoor car parks with more than 80 parking spaces will be covered by solar photovoltaics by law, which could increase by 6.7% in the next few years. GW~11GW of installed solar capacity. This will nearly double France's installed solar capacity, which stands at 13.2GW by 2021.

    From July 1, 2023, car parks with at least 80 and a maximum of 400 parking spaces will have five years to comply with the new measures, while larger car parks will need to implement the changes within three years.

    Some exceptions may apply if technical, safety, architectural, historical or environmental constraints prevent the installation of a solar roof.

    In addition, other measures taken by the law include raising the requirement for non-residential roofs to be 50% covered by solar PV, up from the previous requirement of 30%.

    Several proposals around agri-PV have also been adopted, including removing asbestos from agricultural roofs to support solar PV, which will be implemented as a trial run over the next three years.

    The French Renewable Energy Trade Association (SER in French) welcomed several provisions proposed by the Senate that would accelerate the deployment of renewable energy in France.