When we think of solar, we tend to picture shimmering expanses of panels spread across farmland or mounted on rooftops. But how about attached to a raft, floating atop a reservoir?
Floating solar photovoltaics, also called “floatovoltaics,” is an emerging technology that’s taken off in countries across Asia and Europe, especially near urban areas with limited space available for land-based solar.
It’s also an untapped resource for the U.S. clean energy transition, according to a new study by researchers at the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. They found that federally owned or managed reservoirs could hold enough floating solar to produce up to 1,476 terawatt-hours of clean electricity — enough to power about 100 million homes each year.
Read more in Canary Media here.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.
