Roofs, ground and water bodies. What do these three have in common? They are all viable surfaces for individuals, organizations and governments to install solar panels. And solar panels can, in turn, enable clean and sustainable energy to play a bigger part in fulfilling the world’s power needs.
Kerala’s Solar Floating Plant
Earlier this year, we heard about the completion of the world’s largest floating solar farm in China. The installation was built on a flooded coal-mining town in eastern Anhui province, literally showcasing the replacement of fossil fuels with renewables.
India too is not far behind. This month, Adtech Systems Ltd. completed the installation of the largest solar floating plant in India in Banasura Sagar reservoir, Kerala. It spans over 6,000 square metres of liquid area and promises an output of 500kWp (kilowatt peak). Kerala State Electricity Board(KSEB) commissioned the project with a budget of Rs.9.25 crore.
Benefits of Solar Floating Plants
Solar floating plants can be more efficient than similar capacity ground mounted plants. The decision to build on water, is thus, not driven merely by spacial constraints. Other factors include –
- Solar floating plants have a higher efficiency compared to ground-mounted plants because the cooling effect of water on panel temperature
- These panels also boast of a lower concentration of dust
- Environmentally, these panels can shade the water and reduce evaporation by up to 70%
Thus, solar floating panels have several benefits and it is great to see that India is also pursuing the adoption of new technologies. For more information about the floating plant in Kerala, click here.
If you want to Go Solar, simply fill out the form below or click here or call +91-920-569-5690 and we’ll do the rest:
Image Courtesy: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Farniente2.jpg