Solar energy corporations in Southeast Asia, competing for land with agriculture, industry and a growing population, have found an progressive alternative: placing floating panels in lakes, dams, reservoirs and the ocean.
Earlier this week, state-owned Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) said it could submit a proposal to construct a 45-megawatt floating solar energy plant on the Sirindhorn Dam within the country’s northeast.
EGAT plans to speculate in about 16 such projects across nine dams within the country, deputy governor Thepparat Theppitak told reporters.
Elsewhere within the region, Singapore is constructing one in all the world’s largest offshore floating photovoltaic systems within the Strait of Johor within the north of the island.
“In land-limited countries like Singapore, widespread adoption of photovoltaic systems is hampered by space constraints and limited roof space,” said Frank Phuan, CEO of Sunseap Group, which is constructing the system.
The platform should be “stronger” than systems in reservoirs or lakes to face up to the harsher conditions within the open sea and overcome barnacles that may grow on it, he added.
He added that additionally it is difficult to seek out a spot at sea that will not be visited by shipping vessels.
Despite these challenges, floating solar systems are growing rapidly in Asia, alongside ground-based and rooftop systems, in line with the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS).
Although floating panels are costlier to put in, SERIS says they’re as much as 16 percent more efficient since the water’s cooling effect helps reduce heat loss and extend their lifespan.
The panels also reduce evaporation from water bodies when temperatures are high, thus conserving fresh water for drinking.
“The greater efficiency offsets the higher installation costs,” said Celine Paton, senior financial analyst at SERIS.
“Technological advances should soon bring them to the level of terrestrial systems” when it comes to cost, she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Southeast Asia is especially well-suited to using floating panels due to the scarcity of land and the power to simply install them on many hydroelectric dams within the region, where existing transmission systems will be used, she added.
China currently accounts for many of the greater than 1.1 gigawatts of installed floating solar energy, in line with the World Bank.
India recently announced a plan to develop 10 GW of floating solar energy.
The potential of this technology is roughly 400 GW, which is roughly the identical amount of generating capability as all of the photovoltaic panels installed on this planet by 2017, in line with the World Bank.
There are concerns that the panels may block sunlight, affecting marine life and ecosystems, and that electrical systems may not have the option to face up to the pressure of the water.
But supporters say the technology is proven and that the panels take up too little space to cause serious problems.
“The first floating solar system was only installed in 2007, so there are still some unknowns,” Paton said.
“But it’s not about competing with terrestrial systems – it’s about context,” she said.
Source : Thomson Reuters Foundation
