Why are floating PV plants a promising future for solar energy?
Floating solar PV plants are an emerging form of PV systems that float on the surface of drinking water reservoirs, quarry lakes, irrigation canals or remediation and tailing ponds. According to the World Bank, with a global potential of 400 GW under very conservative assumptions, floating solar could double the existing installed capacity of solar PV but without the land acquisition that is required for ground-mounted installations. As there are more than 400,000 square kilometers (km2) of man-made reservoirs in the world (Shiklomanov 1993), the floating solar has a theoretical potential on a terawatt scale, purely from the perspective of the available surface area. Floating solar power generating systems typically generate more electricity than ground-mount and rooftop systems due to the cooling effect of the water. But this is not the only advantage.
Discover all the benefits.