Renewable Energy from Floating Solar Farms Are Powering the World Lorraine Chow - EcoWatch
go to original June 13, 2016

Solar panels take to the water as new farms flourish (Euronews Knowledge)

There are a number of benefits to floating solar plants, aka “floatovoltaics.” Compared to mounted panels, floating systems are naturally cooled by the bodies of water they sit on, therefore boosting power production efficiency. Many floating PV developers point out that the floatovoltaics shade the water, which reduces water evaporation and slow algae blooms.

“The efficiencies are what motivated us to look at this,” Rajesh Nellore, the chief executive of Infratech Industries, told the New York Times.

The Sydney-based company erected a floating solar system in Jamestown, South Australia that claims to generate 57 percent more energy than rooftop panels.

The plant floats on a wastewater facility in Jamestown and is the first part of a larger system that will cover five basins, the company says on its website. The system consists of raft supporting standard photovoltaic panels, which are specially coated to prevent corrosion, due to their close proximity to water.

Another plus of floating arrays is how it makes use of unused space. In the UK, a 6.3 megawatt floating solar project consisting of 23,000 solar panels sits on Walton-on-Thames’ Queen Elizabeth II reservoir, an area that isn’t used for any other purpose, The Guardian reported. The £6 million (about $8 million) project will help power local water treatment plants that provide clean drinking water to London and south-east England’s 10 million residents.

Read the rest at EcoWatch

Related: Wastewater Treatment Plant in Nogales, Sonora, Is First in Latin America to Operate with Clean Energy (Mexico News Daily)

Related: 3 Fast Facts About Latin America’s Solar Market (GTM)

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