The largest floating solar farm in North America is officially online
The largest floating solar farm in North America is officially online
electrek.co
The largest floating solar farm in North America is officially online
17 comments
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Wouldn’t this mess with the water ecosystem? Like reducing photosynthesis of water plants and increasing the temp of the water? Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about solar. Just curious if anyone knows the answer.
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I think the idea here is that it's a man-made reservoir and they're not worried about maintaining an ecosystem.
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Ah! Good point. I missed the man made part. Thank you!
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17 comments
Looks cool, but the article didn't really discuss the technology at all. E.g. It would have been nice to know how much weather and waves these can handle.
It's built on a reservoir so I assume that means waves aren't an issue. I was glad to see it was a reservoir and not a natural lake or ocean. It means there shouldn't be any (?) environmental impact.
I also wonder if it is beneficial for reducing evaporation.
There's a bit more detailed info in the press release from last year about the start of the project. It's on the website linked in the article.
It probably does help with evaporation, similarly to the black balls in this video from Veritasium.
They do reduced the evaporation and are are being installed in lots of reservoirs in hot areas because of it. That said, the permanent shade might have a negative impact on the aquatic ecosystems which need to be managed.
Good point about the evaporation! Yes any energy flowing away along the wires is away from heating the water. Though how significant this is, dunno.