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What is Floatovoltaics?

26-08-2023

10:43 AM

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1 min read
What is Floatovoltaics? Blog Image

Overview:

Covering 10% of the world’s hydropower reservoirs with ‘floatovoltaics’ would install electrical capacity equivalent to that provided by all electricity-generating fossil fuel plants in operation worldwide.

About Floatovoltaics:

  • Floatovoltaics, floating solar plants, or FSPV (floating solar photovoltaic) are panel structures that are installed on water bodies like lakes, basins, and reservoirs instead of on solid structures like a roof or terraces. 
  • The biggest impetus behind the rise of large-scale FSPV has been that it doesn’t take up any land space, which could be then used for construction and agriculture.
  • The world’s first large-scale FSPV system was installed in 2011, in Napa Valley, California.

 

India:

  • In recent years, floating solar power plants have become part of India’s plans of solar expansion. 
  • According to a 2020 study by TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) reservoirs cover 18000 square Kilometer in India and can generate 280 GW through floating solar panels.
  • Currently less than 1% of solar installations are floating.
  • The largest floating solar power plant in India is currently the Ramagundam in Peddapalli district of Telangana, with a capacity of 100 MW.
  • Currently a plant is being built on the Narmada’ Omkareshwar Dam in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh is being built with a capacity of 600 MW, which will soon be the largest floating solar power plant in the world. 
  • The project is touted to be worth Rs 3000 crore.
  • What are the benefits of floating solar panels?
    • the water’s cooling effect makes them more efficient than land-based ones; 
    • they don’t interfere with desert ecosystems; and 
    • they keep precious water from evaporating. 
    • Even though reservoirs are artificial ecosystems, they provide habitats for wildlife.

 


Q1) What is the advantage of solar energy?

Solar energy include  is a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels and has a low impact on the environment and the potential for any country to produce it