Tag Archive for: floatingsolar

New research is being conducted to develop methods for keeping solar panels operative in the high seas.

Scientists developing floating solar farms that can withstand rough oceans

Floating solar farms are solar panels that are installed on the surface of bodies of water — such as lakes and reservoirs — to save space on land or provide electricity to remote locations.

Now, engineers and scientists are beginning to develop ways to put solar farms on the surface of the ocean to bring electricity to isolated places, such as the island nation of Indonesia, where more than a million people are without access to electricity, reported BBC News.

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Source: Eco Watch

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Inseanergy recently installed its first commercial installations after completing a pilot project with Hofseth International's fish farm.

Floating solar tech for aquaculture

Inseanergy, a Norway-based renewables developer, has built a floating solar platform for use in aquaculture projects. The SUB Solar system is installed on recycled fish-cage float rings and can be used in combination with onshore power supplies to reduce the need for diesel generators, which are traditionally used to power fish farms. It also allows for excess electricity to be sold to the grid.

The floating solar system is particularly suitable in combination with hybrid system solutions that pair batteries with downsized diesel generators, according to the company.

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Source: PV Magazine

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Floating panels are placed in human-made bodies of water, not taking up land that could be used for nature preserves or food production.

Floating solar panels could unlock clean power without wasting land

Many countries bet on solar panels when engaging in the switch to cleaner energy. But the technology requires much larger areas than conventional fossil fuel plants to generate the same amount of electricity. An emerging solution to save space is to float the panels on bodies of water, an approach dubbed ​“floatovoltaics.” Scientists believe this new approach could help solar energy to scale globally and fight climate change, but its environmental impacts are largely unexplored.

The world’s first commercial floatovoltaic system was installed on an irrigation pond at a California winery in 2008. Since then, bigger plants with capacities in the hundreds of megawatts have been built on lakes and hydropower reservoirs in China, and more are planned in Southeast Asia and Brazil.

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Source: Canary Media

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Proteus has floating solar panels with Sun-tracking technology that maximizes the amount of clean electricity it can produce.

The floating solar panels that track the sun

On a lake in the Netherlands, a shiny circular island floats, covered in dozens of shimmering solar panels.

But this is no normal solar array, nor even simply one of the many new floating solar farms being installed in lakes, reservoirs and coastal areas across the world. That’s because its panels are doing something none of these other floating solar farms can do: meticulously tracking and following the Sun as it moves across the sky, to catch as many rays as possible.

This glistening installation, named Proteus after the ancient Greek sea god, is among the first to combine floating solar panels with Sun-tracking technology – all in an effort to maximise the amount of clean electricity it can produce.

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Source: BBC

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The installation is the largest floating solar power plant in the US Southeast located in Fort Bragg, North Carolina

US Army deploys its first floating solar array

Floating solar had a moment in the spotlight over the weekend when the US Army unveiled a new solar plant sitting atop the Big Muddy Lake at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. It’s the first floating solar array deployed by the Department of Defense, and it’s part of a growing current of support in the US for “floatovoltaics.”

The army says its goal is to boost clean energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and give the nearby training facility a source of backup energy during power outages. The panels will be able to generate about one megawatt of electricity, which can typically power about 190 homes.

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Source: The Verge

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Covering 10% of the world’s hydropower reservoirs with ‘floatovoltaics’ would install as much electrical capacity as is currently available for fossil-fuel power plants.

Floating solar power could help fight climate change

Solar panels need to be deployed over vast areas worldwide to decarbonize electricity. By 2050, the United States might need up to 61,000 square kilometres of solar panels — an area larger than the Netherlands1. Land-scarce nations such as Japan and South Korea might have to devote 5% of their land to solar farms2.

The question of where to put these panels isn’t trivial. There is fierce competition for land that is also needed for food production and biodiversity conservation. One emerging solution is to deploy floating solar panels (‘floatovoltaics’) on reservoirs.

The idea of floatovoltaics holds much promise, and there has been a rapid rise in installation and investments. But there are still many unknowns about the technology’s environmental impacts, along with its social, technical and economic dimensions.

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Source: Nature

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12,000 solar panels, the size of 4 football pitches floating on Portugal's Alqueva reservoir will produce enough energy to power 1,500 homes.

Biggest ‘floating solar park’ in Europe will open this year in Portugal

Europe’s largest floating solar park will take shape in July this year, in Portugal’s Alqueva reservoir.

Two tugboats are currently moving a vast array of 12,000 solar panels, the size of four football pitches, to their mooring on the reservoir.

Built by EDP, the country’s main utility company, on Western Europe’s biggest artificial lake, the shiny floating island is part of Portugal’s plan to cut reliance on imported fossil fuels whose prices have surged since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Source: Euronews

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Construction begins on largest floating solar project in the US

NJR Clean Energy Ventures (CEV) has started construction on an 8.9-MW floating solar installation in Millburn, New Jersey, that will be the largest floating array in the United States.

Using a floating racking system, 16,510 solar panels will be installed on a reservoir located at the New Jersey American Water Canoe Brook Water Treatment Plant. The clean power generated by the array will provide approximately 95% of the facility’s annual power needs through a power purchase agreement with CEV.

“Floating solar technology creates new opportunities for bodies of water to be a home for large-scale renewable energy generation and bring the benefits of clean energy to even more customers,” said Steve Westhoven, president and CEO of New Jersey Resources. “As a leader in New Jersey’s solar marketplace, we look forward to working with New Jersey American Water to support their power needs and advance the state’s clean energy and climate goals.”

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Source: Solar Power World

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