International.
A law in France indicates that part of the roofs of new buildings are covered by solar panels or plants.
The option envisaged by lawmakers to install solar panels may also help France catch up on solar energy development. While Germany has made great strides in developing its solar capacity, France had only five gigawatts of PV installed last summer, accounting for 1% of all the country's energy output.
"This proposal is a positive step forward and a concrete improvement towards greener and smarter cities," said James Watson, CEO of the European Photovoltaic Industry Association. "There are so many unused roofs in our cities and solar panels are the best solution to take advantage of them and integrate them into the urban landscape."
Roofs in buildings with plants and shrubs will help absorb rainwater and reduce runoff, provide green spaces in urban areas that can play an important role in reducing the urban effect of "heat island". This phenomenon occurs when urban areas are built, destroying local vegetation and retaining more heat, with a temperature increase of between 1.8 ° C – 5.4 ° C than in their surroundings by day, the same happens during the night.
