The Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games are utilizing renewable electricity to power the square in the athletes' village, highlighted by a floating photovoltaic array that's turning heads on the Seine River, as Interesting Engineering reported.
France has gone all out this year with a commitment to reducing pollution and leaning on renewable energy for the international event. One of its more interesting power sources has been provided by EDF ENR, a solar-focused subsidiary of the energy company EDF.
"This is the first time in the world that we have sailed a photovoltaic power plant. Even if it was only 900 meters, the distance between the place where the installation is unloaded and where it is assembled," as Franck Chauveau, EDF's director of major project development for Île-de-France, said in a statement to PV Magazine France.
According to that report, the solar array covers over 450 square meters on a floating barge and provides a peak of 78 kilowatts, enough to power over 94 apartments. Its assembly process appears to be quick and straightforward, taking less than 24 hours to fully install.
It's located near the Olympic and Paralympic Square in the athletes' village section of the event, providing clean electricity for things like small shops, journalists, and screens broadcasting the live events.
This temporary floating solar plant works on a self-consumption model, delivering just enough power to meet consumption needs and adjusting it in real time. Located just on the edge of the Seine, it also saves valuable real estate for event operations.
To avoid the use of diesel generators, which produce pollution through burning dirty fuels, the event has teamed with electricity distributor Enedis to supply other locations. The company installed pop-up electrical terminals below the road surfaces that can be patched into venues and facilities nearby and will continue to be used for future events, per the Paris 2024 website.
Lighting in all the stadiums and temporary facilities has also been switched to LEDs, which should deliver an 80% reduction in energy use compared to standard lighting.
Not only that but the permanent Aquatics Center has been designed with efficiency in mind. It's topped with photovoltaic panels that should supply 20% of the building's electricity needs, while the concave roof design reduces the air volume that needs warming by 30%, thus limiting energy spent on temperature control.
France is leading by example at the Olympic Games this year, showing that small yet important actions can have a large impact on our energy use and a positive impact on the environment. The air will be cleaner, too, without dirty diesel motors chugging away, and — aside from the cheers of the crowd —much quieter.
The floating solar array, while not the first, is the largest in the world and under a global spotlight that highlights the benefits and flexibility of delivering clean, sustainable energy at scale in nearly any location. Other European residents are already surfing the green-energy wave, using affordable, portable panels to power their own devices and supply the grid for cash.
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