Floating Solar Power Plant Could Be Much More Efficient and Reduce Water Evaporation From Reservoirs

Written by Fabio Lucas Carvalho

Published on 21/05/2021 at 08:48

(Image: Alamy)

Seja o primeiro a reagir!

Floating Solar Power Plant Can Be an Alternative to Help Reduce Water Evaporation in Water Reservoirs

According to experts, climate change is behind the severe droughts that have affected some regions of the planet in recent years. Brazil has suffered greatly from this problem, forcing ANEEL to increase electricity prices to avoid blackouts. With the sun getting hotter, water reservoirs evaporate at a higher rate, harming hydroelectric plants. Floating solar energy can help reduce the effects of the problem.

Solar Power Plant: Strategy Aimed at Increasing Efficiency

The strategy would be to use floating solar energy to generate even more clean energy while the solar panels prevent water temperature from rising, reducing water evaporation. In a 2019 study, ANA, the National Water Agency, analyzed a total of 148 reservoirs across Brazil, proving that evaporation was the second largest water consumption, only behind irrigation in agriculture.

One of the major problems with reservoirs is that some of them flood large areas, forming water mirrors. This greatly increases the space where the sun shines with intensity, further increasing evaporation.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

See also

Floating solar power plant can further aid the evolution of clean energy. Photo: BayWa re

The implementation of floating solar energy is expected to continue growing in the coming years. Experts believe it will become the third pillar of solar energy, behind only rooftop and ground-mounted solar energy.

In 2018, a study conducted in Europe and Asia by the institute Ciel & Terre International showed that floating solar energy produces a total of 14% more energy than panels on rooftops and on the ground. The study also highlighted that the use of this type of technology reduces water evaporation by up to 70%.

Brazil Already Has a Floating Plant

In Brazil, the technology is already being used. It is located at Fazenda Figueiredo das Lages, in the municipality of Cristalina, Goiás. The solar panels are installed on an artificial lake, which is fed by rainwater. The farm has installed a total of 1,150 photovoltaic panels.

Today, the largest project is in South Korea, in the plains maintained behind a dam. The floating solar panel project is expected to cost a total of US$ 4 billion, which should become operational in 2025.

Floating Solar Power Plant Could Be Much More Efficient and Reduce Water Evaporation From Reservoirs

Floating Solar Power Plant Can Be an Alternative to Help Reduce Water Evaporation in Water Reservoirs

Solar Power Plant: Strategy Aimed at Increasing Efficiency

Brazil Already Has a Floating Plant

Seen from space, an image taken by an astronaut shows an unlikely oasis in the Saudi Arabian desert, protected by a terrain that slows the advance of sand, surrounded by green circles, remnants of an extinct lake and nearly 10,000 years of preserved history.

While the U.S. still faces limitations in deep space, China is developing unprecedented technology with strategic satellites that maintain communication with the far side of the Moon and aims for dominance by 2030.

With 7.4 trillion tons of artificial snow pumped in 10 years, an extreme operation could stabilize the West Antarctic ice sheet and prevent a sea level rise of more than 3 meters, but it would require snow cannons, ocean water, and energy on an almost industrial scale at the end of the world.

The Blood Falls of Antarctica hide a living ecosystem trapped under the ice for over 2 million years, where microbes survive without light, without oxygen, and without ever having seen the Sun.

In the Saudi Arabian desert, the world’s largest green hydrogen plant is 80% complete and will use 4 gigawatts of solar and wind energy to produce 600 tons of clean fuel per day when it opens in 2027.

The CEO of Honor in Spain says that smartphones will change with AI, foldables, and even robot phones; the component crisis is making cheap models more expensive in 2026 and shifting the focus to premium.

Japan teaches the world how giant arched gates weighing up to 530 tons protect Osaka from devastating typhoons, block storm surges in minutes, and drain 330 m³/s to prevent urban flooding.

One of the biggest mudslides ever recorded on the Trans-Amazon Highway trapped trucks, cars, and motorcycles at the same spot for three consecutive days while a tractor with a winch tried to free them one by one under the rain.

The São Paulo government opens 1,700 spots in free courses in the capital and Greater São Paulo, with classes starting on April 27 and registrations available in person or online for areas with high demand in the job market.

Federal Institute will pay you R$ 300 for a free course: IFSP calls women for 320 in-person vacancies in 8 cities, with 60 hours of training and registrations open until April 21, 2026.

Senar opens more than 3,000 vacancies in free technical courses for 2026 with 9 programs in agriculture, hybrid education EAD + in-person, registrations until May 26 and simplified selection without exams throughout Brazil.

Floating Solar Power Plant Could Be Much More Efficient and Reduce Water Evaporation From Reservoirs

Floating Solar Power Plant Can Be an Alternative to Help Reduce Water Evaporation in Water Reservoirs

Solar Power Plant: Strategy Aimed at Increasing Efficiency

Brazil Already Has a Floating Plant

Seen from space, an image taken by an astronaut shows an unlikely oasis in the Saudi Arabian desert, protected by a terrain that slows the advance of sand, surrounded by green circles, remnants of an extinct lake and nearly 10,000 years of preserved history.

While the U.S. still faces limitations in deep space, China is developing unprecedented technology with strategic satellites that maintain communication with the far side of the Moon and aims for dominance by 2030.

With 7.4 trillion tons of artificial snow pumped in 10 years, an extreme operation could stabilize the West Antarctic ice sheet and prevent a sea level rise of more than 3 meters, but it would require snow cannons, ocean water, and energy on an almost industrial scale at the end of the world.

The Blood Falls of Antarctica hide a living ecosystem trapped under the ice for over 2 million years, where microbes survive without light, without oxygen, and without ever having seen the Sun.

In the Saudi Arabian desert, the world’s largest green hydrogen plant is 80% complete and will use 4 gigawatts of solar and wind energy to produce 600 tons of clean fuel per day when it opens in 2027.

The CEO of Honor in Spain says that smartphones will change with AI, foldables, and even robot phones; the component crisis is making cheap models more expensive in 2026 and shifting the focus to premium.

Solar-powered ice factory in the Amazon that eliminated a 5-hour trip to Manaus, prevents the loss of up to two-thirds of the fish, and now ensures income for more than 30 riverside families.

Every time a river flows into the sea, an amount of energy equivalent to a 120-meter waterfall is silently wasted, but Japan has just inaugurated the world’s first power plant that captures this waste and transforms it into electricity 24 hours a day without sun, wind, or fuel.

Silicon Valley bets on a 100-hour battery that uses carbon and oxygen to store renewable energy for days and could turn a little-known chemical system into an alternative to critical metal batteries to tackle prolonged blackouts.

Canadian engineers want to compress air in underground caverns and build plants of up to 500 MW that function as giant lungs to store renewable energy for hours and stabilize entire electrical grids.

Japan teaches the world how giant arched gates weighing up to 530 tons protect Osaka from devastating typhoons, block storm surges in minutes, and drain 330 m³/s to prevent urban flooding.

One of the biggest mudslides ever recorded on the Trans-Amazon Highway trapped trucks, cars, and motorcycles at the same spot for three consecutive days while a tractor with a winch tried to free them one by one under the rain.

The São Paulo government opens 1,700 spots in free courses in the capital and Greater São Paulo, with classes starting on April 27 and registrations available in person or online for areas with high demand in the job market.

Federal Institute will pay you R$ 300 for a free course: IFSP calls women for 320 in-person vacancies in 8 cities, with 60 hours of training and registrations open until April 21, 2026.

Senar opens more than 3,000 vacancies in free technical courses for 2026 with 9 programs in agriculture, hybrid education EAD + in-person, registrations until May 26 and simplified selection without exams throughout Brazil.