Parksun, a French solar mapping service for car parks, has published the first national, store-by-store survey of 16,790 food retailers and specialist stores in France. Three months after a July 1, 2026, deadline set by the APER law, 85% of large supermarket car parks still had no visible solar canopies, according to the survey.

France’s APER law requires outdoor car parks larger than 1,500 square meters to cover half their area with photovoltaic canopies.

“Until now, nobody had measured its implementation,” said Matthieu Mazzega of Parksun. The share of car parks equipped with solar canopies increased from 4.5% in 2023 imagery to 6.7% in 2025 imagery and 9% in 2026 imagery. “We can therefore see that the pace accelerated as the July 2026 deadline approached, and the actual share today is around 8% to 10%.”

Among food retailers, 1,456 of the 1,713 car parks measuring at least 10,000 square meters had no visible solar canopies, representing 85% of the total. Some may have signed contracts before June 30, 2026, allowing them to defer the deadline to Jan. 1, 2028.

A further 5,960 supermarket car parks measure between 1,500 and 10,000 square meters and face a solarization deadline of July 1, 2028.

Non-compliance can result in annual fines of up to €40,000 for the largest car parks and €20,000 for smaller ones, following a formal notice from the prefect.

Progress varies among retailers. 3% of its car parks, while Système U had equipped 15%, around twice the average. Among specialist retailers, Feu Vert and Norauto were among the stronger performers.

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