Well almost everything is good and green about conventional solar farms, except the panels are generally costly and can take too much land space. But this innovative project contrived by a collaboration of Israeli company Solaris Synergy and French company EDF Group addresses the second issue pretty comprehensively, conveniently and efficiently. The ambitious proposal calls for building floating solar farms over industrial water basins by the year 2012.
Industrial water basins generally serves the purpose of the stringent economy, albeit in a polluted manner – be it the water source for irrigation fields, or the dumping ‘ground’ for power plants. But the integration of floating solar farms in such basins would rather enhance the overall utility of the existing space by additional production of clean and green solar energy required for power.
And its not only about the total energy output; the production of solar energy can be also made much more effectual. The floating panels could use the water beneath for cooling, hence allowing more silicon solar cells to be incorporated in comparison to land. Moreover compact, modular based design of solar platforms would enable the precious oxygen to still reach beneath the surface of water, thus not severely affecting the underwater eco-system of plants and animals.
Source: Discovery
