The increasing demand for renewable energy sources every year is forcing developers to look for new options for installing solar panels.
Scientists from the University of California have proposed placing solar panels over water spaces – channels that supply the district with fresh water. Such an original solution will not only provide the population with clean energy, but will also help reduce moisture evaporation.
Scientists have calculated that by installing canopies of PV modules over nearly 6,500 km of open canals, it will be possible to prevent the annual evaporation of almost 300,000 tons of water into the atmosphere. This amount of saved liquid will be enough to meet the economic needs of almost 2 million people or for full-fledged irrigation of 200 sq. km of agricultural land.
Given that California suffers from terrible droughts every year (and the situation is only getting worse with climate change), this project looks very attractive and promising. Moreover, in the Indian states, such an idea has already been successfully implemented since 2012. Solar panels over water canals provide 4 benefits at once: the production of clean energy, land and water savings, and a decrease in carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.
According to the information portal E2nergy, in the near future a German company specializing in the production of photovoltaic equipment plans to organize the supply of mobile floating solar power plants to the world market. The power of such a solar farm will reach 140 kW, and it will receive energy from three sources at once – the sun, water and wind.