• In Rennes, the Préales and La Poterie park-and-ride facilities along metro line A will soon be fitted with photovoltaic panels.

  • The city and the metropolis wish to optimize the space to produce electricity, in a region very dependent on its neighbors.

  • Other sites are being studied to accommodate solar farms.

Imagine a parking lot where your car would always be in the shade, while contributing to the production of electricity. In Rennes, two park-and-ride facilities used to access public transport will soon be fitted with photovoltaic panels. The Préales car park, located next to the Beaulieu student campus, then the Poterie car park, at the terminus of metro line A, will be equipped with shades that will produce electricity from solar energy. With a surface area of ​​2,500 m² each, the two park-and-ride facilities will have a peak power of 500 kW. Under optimal sunshine conditions, this corresponds to 500,000 kWh per year, or the equivalent of the annual consumption of 100 households.

This produced electricity will above all aim to reduce the dependence of the Rennes metropolitan area and the Brittany region, which import a very large part of their energy.

“We cannot invest in electric buses and lose interest in the production of electricity,” explains Matthieu Theurier, vice-president of Rennes Métropole responsible for transport.

#Rennes The new parking lot at La Poterie should open on September 15th.

It will offer 650 places (then 700 in 2022) against 400 previously.

A project costing more than 10 million euros for @metropolerennes #mobilite pic.twitter.com/ocUp8eIDNB

- 20 Minutes Rennes (@ 20minutesrennes) August 26, 2021

These photovoltaic shades will be positioned above the car parks.

Vehicles can always park underneath, without loss of spaces.

Just finished, the new Parc-Relais de la Poterie, which will open to the public on September 15, will be equipped with it in the summer of 2022. That of Les Préales could open the ball in the spring.

Other sites already under study

The city of Rennes and the metropolis are leading a more general reflection on the installation of solar panels, in particular on the roofs of the metro workshop garages or on the other parking areas of the territory.

Other photovoltaic projects are being studied in the metropolitan area, such as on the rights-of-way of old landfills or landfills, where no construction or cultivation is allowed.

In Pont-Péan, south-west of Rennes, it is on the site of a former lead mine that 40,000 photovoltaic panels will be put into service in the coming days.

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  • Car park

  • Matthieu Theurier

  • electricity

  • Solar energy

  • Photovoltaic

  • renewable energy

  • Planet

  • Reindeer