With 2022 now declared the second hottest year in Provence since records began in 1900, more and more effort is going into the capture of that precious solar energy.
The commune of Peyrolles moved fast, even before the current energy crisis: it now has one of Europe’s largest ‘grands parcs photovoltaïques flottant’ in Europe.
Many will be familiar with the big artifical lake (le plan d’eau du Plantain) which has a beach, boats, picnic and games areas. But it was news to me that there is a second lake which has been used for industrial purposes. Called Les Chapeliers, the enterprise Durance Granulats had been extracting water, sand and gravel for concrete production. Once this activity ended, the terrain was returned to the community who decided to use it for environmental purposes. Seven years, and lots of work later, the park has opened – a first for Bouches-du-Rhone.
Some details:
* It’s spread over 12,6 hectares of lake, 30% of the total surface
* There are 43 776 panels
* It took 9 months to install
* 600 1-tonne blocks were needed to anchor the panels
* Per year, it will produce enough electricity for 6,400 households, 20,000 inhabitants. Plenty for Peyrolles which numbers 2,000 households.
What a splendid feat of engineering!
aixcentric 
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