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New French law will blanket parking lots with solar panels

By Michael Birnbaum

06 Feb 2023 · 3 min read

Editor's Note

France wants to build solar panel roofs for all parking lots in the country. The plan is set to generate 10 nuclear power plants worth of energy. The Washington Post examines how this will be done.

French parking lots could soon generate as much electricity as 10 nuclear power plants, after a law is expected to win final passage on Tuesday requiring canopies of solar panels to be built atop all substantial lots in the country.

The plan makes France a world leader in efforts to cover as many surfaces as possible with solar panels, a step advocates say will be crucial in broader plans to phase out fossil fuels in the coming years. The expansion could add as much as 8 percent to France's current electrical capacity.

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