Not every country interested in pursuing renewable energy has vast swaths of land on which to erect solar and wind farms. That's why one Israeli start-up decided to explore a completely new terrain.
When someone mentions a solar power plant, most of us immediately envision rooftops or a vast field with no trees in site. But for smaller nations, like Israel, land is at a premium. It's hard for many to justify using huge swaths of land for solar energy production when, y'know, people could live there.
So instead of a land-based solar system, Solaris Energy decided to develop a water-based technology: a floating solar power plant.
The system concentrates a large amount of sunlight onto a small area to generate electricity by converting solar radiation into direct current electricity. It features a modular design that supports power output ranging from several kilowatts to dozens of megawatts. According to Solaris, the solution dramatically lowers the cost of energy production to a level far below national feed-in tariffs (FITs), making solar competitive and there for attractive to the government and investors.
While collecting the sun's energy, the Solaris Synergy floating concentrating photovoltaic (F-CPV) system also doubles as a water reservoir cover. Lowering exposure to the sun while enabling covered water to breathe, means that the system can significantly reduce water evaporation and eliminate organic and algae growth, while preserving water freshness and quality...all important features for a water-strapped country like Israel.
Learn more in the video clip below:
Image Credit: Flickr - via www.metaphoricalplatypus.com
