Solar power is the ultimate solution to clean and efficient energy. The industry has made incredible progress and is accelerating. A French company has created Wattway, rugged solar panels which can be installed on top of existing roads. The panels are always pointing up at the sun. On average most of a road’s surface is only covered by vehicles 10% of the time. The Wattway panels are capable of withstanding the weight of an 18-wheeler truck. The French company has been working on the new technology for five years. Now, they are building 100 outdoor test sites in four countries and plan to commercialize the technology in early 2018. The company says, “Electric avenues that can transmit the sun’s energy onto power grids may be coming to a city near you.” See the full story at Solar-Panel Roads to Be Built on Four Continents Next Year.

Meanwhile, Tesla and Solar City (the two companies are now merged) have constructed a solar power farm on the island of Ta’u. The 17 square mile island is 4,000 miles from the west coast of the U.S. and is the largest island in the Manu‘a Group and the easternmost volcanic island of the Samoan Islands. The American Samoa project will supply 1.4 megawatts of solar power backed up by six megawatt hours of battery storage from 60 Tesla Powerpacks. The island will now receive 100% of its electrical needs from the solar panels. Previously, the 785 residents had to depend on diesel generators and they struggled with power rationing and frequent outages. See the full story at Tesla powers an entire U.S. island with solar energy.