Floating Solar Technology Becoming Popular Around The World
Floating solar panels are a good way to utilize waste water bodies to generate electricity. They are getting extremely popular in cities due to the non-availability of large spaces for the construction of solar farms. Countries like Australia, US, UK, India and Japan has understood the significance and is aggressively adopting this technology. Some of the largest floating solar projects under construction or completed are as under:
1) Jamestown – South Australia
Australia’s first floating solar generation plant
Developed by a Sydney based company Infratech Industries
Panels are specially coated to prevent corrosion, due to their closeness to water
Estimated to generate 57% more energy than a rooftop installation
Estimated cost is around $12 million
2) Yamakura Dam – Japan
Plant Capacity – 13.7 MW
Expected time of completion – 2018
Number of panels – 50,904
Power generation – 16,170 MWh
Developed by Kyocera
3) Walton-on-Thames’ Queen Elizabeth II reservoir – UK
Plant Capacity – 6.3 MW
Number of panels – 23,000
Europe’s largest floating solar power farm
Used to power the local water treatment plants and help in providing clean drinking water
4) Balbina hydroelectric plant – Brazil
Plant Capacity – 350 MW
Buoys will be used to float thousands of square meters of solar panels
No extra transmission cost as existing hydroelectric lines can be used