2020-8-29 · Here what the road looked like in all of its former glory, and how it got to this point. (Benoit Tessier/Reuters) It was all smiles and high hopes in 2016, when the world's first solar panel road, called Wattway, opened. France spent US$5.2 million on 0.6 miles (1 kilometre) of road, and 30,000 square feet (3,000 square metres) of solar panels.