Chinese mounting system provider Mibet has developed a structure for floating PV installations that can reportedly endure extremely low temperatures and withstand wind and snow loads of up to 42 meters per second and 1 kilonewton per square meter, respectively.
“We have many other floating projects in Europe and we recently provided the structures for a large system in Poland,” a company's spokesperson told pv magazine, noting that in the chosen location the minimum temperature may reach as low as 40 degrees Celsius and the snow period lasts for a long time.
Image: Mibet
The facility was built using the company's MRac G4N mounting structure that, in its basic version, can host solar panels placed in two rows. “According to the local conditions and customer requirements, we can provide multi-layouts, including one module-row design, double-row architecture, as well as symmetrical and multiple rows,” the spokesperson said.
The symmetrical facing array is said to be the preferred option to increase a PV project's installed capacity and maximize energy yield.
The system is suitable to incorporate solar panels with wafer sizes of 182 mm and 210 mm and with a tilt angle of 5 to 15 degrees.
The structure is comprised of High-density polyethylene (HDPE), a material that, the company claims, makes it resistant enough to operate without issues during the 25-year solar plant lifetime. The product comes with a 10-year product warranty and is offered with fixing kits to embed the cables and inverters.
The company usually recommends that project developers use anchor points under the water, but anchor points on the waterfront may also be used. “These floating structures are suitable for water surfaces like ponds, rivers, reservoirs, and also for off-shore PV applications,” the spokesperson said.
The system is currently being produced by the company at its facility in Xiamen with a capacity of up to 50 MW per month. The technology passed the Hunt Water Absorption Test, Anti-Aging Test, and Anti-UV Test, according to the manufacturer.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
1 comment
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.