Researchers from Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen have found that placing solar panels on reservoirs, or floatovoltaics, generates significant benefits for the environment and electricity generation.
The international team of environmental scientists have touted the benefits of solar panels on floating platforms atop reservoirs and other bodies of water. In their paper published in Nature Sustainability, the group describes the many benefits of using existing reservoirs to host floatovoltaic farms.
Placing solar panels on floating platforms is nothing new; many groups have been doing it for years. What is new is the increasing awareness of the benefits of doing so. Solar panels placed on floating platforms are nearly identical to those placed on land farms or rooftops—the only real difference is the technology that supports them.
Instead of heavy-duty frames, floating panels use platforms tied to the bottom of the body of water and have tie lines that allow for movement during bad weather or changing surface levels.
SUSTech floatovoltaics research has environmental benefits
In this new paper, first author Yubin Jin pointed out that floating solar panel platforms reduce evaporation and provide electricity. Because many reservoirs already support hydroelectric plants, routing the electricity produced by floatovoltaics is a relatively inexpensive proposition.
Corresponding author, Zhenzhong Zeng from the School of Environmental Science and Engineering at SUSTech, noted that putting solar panels on bodies of water conserves land needed for other purposes. He said there is a lot of potential for their implementation.
The research team found that if just 30 per cent of global reservoirs were covered with floating solar panels, they would collectively generate 9,434 terawatt hours of power each year. This is double the power used by the entire U.S. annually. It would be enough to power 62,000 cities. Preventing evaporation would also save enough water to serve 300 million people annually. Moreover, water acts as a heat sink for the panels, increasing their lifetime.
Coauthors such as Luke Gibson also found that the U.S. is particularly suited to using floatovoltaics due to the significant number of reservoirs. There are 26,000 of them. Covering just 30 per cent of them with floating solar panels would generate 1,900 terawatt hours of energy while preventing the loss of 5.5 trillion gallons of water. The team notes that floatovoltaics can also be used on canals and ponds.
Floatovoltaics also complement hydroelectric power that is already generated by a reservoir. According to SUSTech’s Zhenzhong Zeng, a coauthor of the new paper, the two power sources balance each other.
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