Most of us are accustomed to seeing solar panels installed on vast parcels of farmland and desert terrain. However, solar panels can also float on water, adding clean electricity to the grid while conserving delicate ecosystems.
As CleanTechnica reported, researchers in Italy recently published a study in the journal Nature Energy titled "Floating Photovoltaics May Reduce the Risk of Hydro-Dominated Energy Development in Africa."
CleanTechnica wrote, "The floating solar field is growing quickly, and it could provide for additional grid benefits as well as ecosystem conservation, too."
The researchers found that floating solar panels (also known as floating photovoltaics or FPV) can help prevent the need to build new hydropower dams.
Constructing such projects requires high costs and significant environmental impacts. In contrast, floating solar panels are cost-effective and provide a steadier and more reliable electricity supply. This is especially true when the weather is exceptionally hot and dry, as it is already trending because of extreme weather shifts.
"Here, at the system scale, we show that the same capital investment earmarked for planned dams in the Zambezi watercourse could be used more efficiently by building fewer reservoirs and substituting the energy supply with FPV," the study's authors concluded. "This approach yields an energy output 12% less variable and more robust to long-term hydrological changes."
Although the study focused specifically on Africa, the takeaways can be applied to energy systems worldwide.
The results of this study are important because they build upon a growing body of research supporting the expansion of solar energy. Floating solar farms have already been successful in Florida and Singapore, and innovative companies like SolarisFloat have created floating systems that move with the sun to absorb the most rays efficiently.
Yet some challenges come with integrating hydropower and solar energy, especially if reservoirs are dry for a portion of the year or cannot accommodate floating solar panels because of other reasons. But even if some existing hydropower plants can begin to generate solar energy simultaneously, local governments could save on massive infrastructure costs while conserving environmental and cultural resources.
Installing solar panels has tremendous benefits for homeowners, corporations, and governments, regardless of where you live. "Given the potential benefit, perhaps some clever minds can find ways to mitigate the practical challenges," one CleanTechnica reader wrote in the comments.
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