Philippine Senate Delegation Visit the First Trafficable Photovoltaic Road Surface in the World

Philippine Senate Delegation and the WattWay (from left):  Philippine Ambassador to France Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, Senator JV Ejercito, Senator Cynthia Villar, Senate President Koko Pimentel, Senator Miguel Zubiri, Senator Panfilo Lacson, Senator Joel Villanueva and Senator Loren Legarda

06 July 2017 MAGNY-LES-HAMEAUX —A delegation from the Philippine Senate led by Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III and Senator Loren Legarda visited the Magny-les-Hameaux, a French commune 38 kilometers from Paris, to observe the Wattway -- the first trafficable photovoltaic road surface in the world. 

Built by French company Colas, a leader in construction and maintenance of transport infrastructure, the Wattway is a solar road powered by very thin, heavy-duty, skid resistant photovoltaic panels that are simply glued to the existing road.

Colas Director for Technology and CTO Philippe Harelle explained to the visiting senators that the Wattway technology was invented in partnership with the French National Solar Energy Institute and is not meant to replace existing solar panel technology, but rather, to complement it. The technology is meant to be installed on existing flat surfaces such as roads, parking lots, pedestrian walk ways, and airports.

Wattway is envisioned to power both cities and isolated areas and provides solutions based on the needs of the locality.

The Wattway technology is currently being tested in 12 locations all over the world and Colas is looking at other countries such as the Philippines to set up a pilot testing area.

For more information, visit www.parispe.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/officialphilembassyfrance. END

Senators Joel Villanueva, JV Ejercito and Sherwin Gatchalian checking out the Wattway photovoltaic panels embedded on the road surface