Featured in Latin sunrise – 04-2012

From land to water

Floating PV systems: Photovoltaic systems have been successfully deployed on land and in space for many years, so it was only a matter of time before water-based PV systems emerged on larger scales. Over the past five years, a myriad of floating systems have evolved in varying degrees for use in ponds, reservoirs, canals, rivers and oceans.

By

Charles W. Thurston

02 Apr 2012

Among the benefits of using floating PV systems is the water-cooling effect on silicon solar cells, the natural reflectivity of the water surface, the potential reduction in algae growth due to reduced sunlight penetration, and a lower water temperature in the areas below the arrays. What was claimed to be the world’s first floating photovoltaic …

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