
The APER law requires existing outdoor car parks of more than 1.500 square metres to install shade structures covered with solar panels over half of their surface area.
A decree published at the end of 2024 specified the deadlines for doing so, from July 2026 to January 2028 depending on the case.
"Unrealistic" deadlines, Franck Charton, general delegate of Perifem, an association which brings together major players in French distribution, such as Carrefour, Casino and Ikea, and which is one of the eleven federations which filed an appeal against this decree on Monday, deplored to AFP.
"We are in favour of installing shade structures," Mr Charton insisted, "but in a pragmatic and reasoned manner."
Or "the average time for a photovoltaic panel project is around 18 months. Since almost no one has started, we will not be able to meet the 2026 deadlines, and probably not those of 2028," he estimated.
Owners of large car parks may also have to source from China, because "these delays do not leave time for French industry to start up its factories," added Mr Charton.
The requested deadlines are "technically impossible" and "force us to supply ourselves with Chinese panels while the ambition of the Ministry of the Economy was to create a cutting-edge French industrial sector for these panels", argues the employers' federation of supermarkets, the FCD.
"The sector is not in place, it's a huge waste," reacted Laylou Rahhou, general delegate of the FCD (Federation of Commerce and Distribution), calling on the public authorities to "change their vision" for "a deployment in line with economic realities."
Another problem raised by professionals: the method of calculating the surface area of parking lots that must be covered with canopies.
"The spirit of the law" voted in 2023, "as we understood it, was that only 50% of parking spaces should be covered. However, the decree included traffic lanes in the calculation, lanes which already represent half of the surface area of car parks", underlined Mr. Charton.
But it is not easy to cover these paths with shade structures, according to the eleven federations, particularly because they would prevent large vehicles from driving there.
"This will therefore require covering 100% of parking spaces to compensate," explained Mr. Charton.
And this "would freeze their land area for more than 20 years, prohibiting in particular (...) the construction of housing", the eleven federations put forward in a press release.
Canopies over all parking spaces would also prevent trees from being planted there, even though there are requirements to do so, these federations note.
Players in commerce and distribution, mobility and parking are attacking the decree article 40 of the APER law on the solarization of existing car parks
Although fully involved in the deployment of renewable energies and committed to actively contributing to it, the players in commerce and distribution, mobility and parking are nevertheless concerned about a regulatory framework that they consider unrealistic. The Alliance du Commerce, the CdCF, the FACT, the FCA, the FCD, the FFF, the FMB, the FNMS, Mobilians, Perifem and Procos are mobilizing again and challenging the decree article 40 taken by the government within the framework of the APER law for the installation of photovoltaic canopies on existing car parks. This new contentious appeal before the Council of State aims to denounce a definition that does not comply with the spirit of the law and an implementation disconnected from local feasibility.
As a reminder, the Climate Act requires the installation of photovoltaic panels on car parks and roofs of more than 500 m2 for new buildings or those undergoing major renovation. The APER Act extends this obligation to existing sites with 50% coverage of car parks of more than 1.500 m2 and roofs. The two implementing decrees containing similar provisions raise four main problems.
An extensive definition of the surface area to be covered in car parks
The decree proposes a definition that encompasses all the surfaces of parking spaces and traffic lanes. In fact, half of a car park is made up of traffic lanes. Used by emergency vehicles, logistics, or even for access to technical equipment, these lanes cannot be covered. Thus, to comply with the objective set by the Climate and APER laws, it will most of the time be necessary to cover all the parking spaces in the car park. The consequences of this extensive definition are enormous. The total coverage of parking spaces will freeze their land area for more than 20 years, prohibiting in particular urban renewal, such as the installation of housing for example. In addition, this extensive coverage will lead to producing more electricity than necessary for the site, without a buy-back tariff by exceeding the threshold of the one-stop shop.
A decree that does not allow other renewable energy sources to coexist
While this decree authorises equivalent production of renewable energy, it does not allow several renewable energy sources, such as geothermal energy, to coexist. However, geothermal energy is a particularly relevant solution, in this case one of the rare solutions that allows the energy produced to be stored.
Unsustainable implementation deadlines
The APER law provides for a very short deadline. Brands and owners only have an unrealistic deadline of 2 or 4 years, depending on the size of the car park, to cover 70 million square metres of car park. Sites with car parks larger than 10.000 square metres (i.e. two-thirds of the total surface area of photovoltaic panels to be installed) should be compliant by 2026. The decree that the industry has been waiting for for over 18 months has not taken this postponement of publication into account to extend the implementation of the obligation. However, imposing short deadlines tends the market to the benefit of Asian products in a context of price inflation. The administration defining an obligation that a majority of companies will not be able to comply with and thus outlaws it despite its good will. An attitude that is out of step with the simplification policy brandished by the various governments.
A negative impact on biodiversity
The obligation to cover car parks conflicts with biodiversity restoration and greening measures, in particular those providing for the presence of trees to shade the spaces and the deployment of nature-based adaptation solutions advocated under the PNACC-3. Indeed, the decree does not allow the mixing of photovoltaic and green shading solutions. In many cases, car parks will have to sacrifice their greening to allow the installation of panels. These measures also create heat islands and aggravate the problems of water infiltration into the soil, with negative effects on biodiversity.
A new decree which repeats the errors of the first despite warnings from stakeholders
While particularly proactive, reaffirming their commitment, their adhesion and their contribution to the objective of producing renewable energies, the players in commerce and distribution, mobility and parking are confused by the implementing decrees of the Climate laws (new car parks) and APER (existing car parks). The second decree published in mid-November by the government reiterates the errors of the first decree, already called into question by an informal appeal and then litigation last July. The applicants deplore the total absence of consultation in order to defend the principle of a reasoned and pragmatic photovoltaic coverage while allowing to maintain the commitments in favor of biodiversity aimed at combating heat islands.
Faced with these inapplicable measures and the lack of consultation, the signatory federations are thus obliged to file a contentious appeal before the Council of State. They are once again calling on the government to urgently resume discussions in order to take into account operational constraints, realistic implementation and contradictory injunctions also relating to the latest public policies for the transformation of commercial areas.
Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.