Rotating floating pv

[AE-NMidlands]

I suggested this when we had a thread about (Thames water?) covering reservoirs with floats carrying pv (which cuts heating and evaporation, besides generating.) However I hadn't seen any reports of it unti I found this from April 2019:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/ ... solar-farm

Dutch engineers build world's biggest sun-seeking solar farm

The 15 floating solar islands will possess sunflower-like ability to turn to face the sun
Dutch engineers are building what will be the world’s largest archipelago of islands made up of sun-tracking solar panels.

Growing resistance to the construction of wind turbines or fields of solar panels on land has led the renewable energy industry to look for alternative options. Large islands of solar panels are under construction or already in place in reservoirs and lakes across the Netherlands, China, the UK and Japan.

In a development that is to become the largest of its type in the world, construction will begin this year on 15 solar islands on the Andijk reservoir in north Holland. The islands, containing 73,500 panels, will have the sunflower-like ability to move to face the light.


The first phase of the project, involving three islands, each of which will be 140 metres in diameter, is due to be finished by November, once the migratory season for birds has come to an end.

Arnoud van Druten, the managing director of Floating Solar, a solar panel supplier, said: “We would like to have started earlier but because of the environmental issues regarding bird seasons, there is only a limited period in the year, these three months, that we can put anything in the water.”
Dutch engineers build world’s largest archipelago of solar panels – video

Along with a second project at Hoofddorp, near Amsterdam, which will involve static solar panels, the water company PWN, which owns the land on which the farms will be located, is expected to create enough energy to power 10,000 households.

Van Druten said: “The sun-tracking system involves three buoys for anchoring with cable around it, which turns the island and at the same time keeps the island together. It ensures the island is turned towards the sun.

“You can have two options: one is tracking automatically to the light. But because the position of the sun is not expected to change too much in the coming years, an algorithm can be easily programmed.”

Another feature of the islands is that they can reposition themselves in extreme weather to minimise damage.

Good idea...

[Moxi]

I wonder how they plan to keep the feathered fiends away from the panels ? and the cleaning frequency will need to be higher than on land i guess as the seabirds will be drawn like magnets to the "islands"

Good for the fish underneath the raft areas too as this will form a natural cover for them and as flora starts to colonise the underneath of the floats it could become a haven for spawning fish and a nursery for the young ? with some thought it could be a very very good solution that benefits the natural environment as well as us humans.

Moxi

[dan_b]

Here's a couple of articles about the floating solar array at the QE2 reservoir in Walton on Thames.
6.4MW, was the world's largest when it was commissioned in 2016.

https://www.lightsourcebp.com/uk/projec ... r-project/

It suffered from a fire in 2020
https://www.rechargenews.com/transition ... 2-1-877293

I believe that all the power is used within the water treatment works.

[AE-NMidlands]

Interesting, thanks.

deploying PV on water should in theory be safe – as long as due care is given to the extra risk factors that exist in addition to land-based deployment.
They include ingress of water and moisture to components such as inverters and connectors, and potential damage to cabling caused by the movement of the water – even if this is only gentle, as in the case of a reservoir.

“Connectors are well-known as a risk factor,” said Heuckelbach. “And the cabling in a floating PV plant need special attention, because the floating device moves, and when you use the wrong type of cable it could be you get some damage.”
Although the water offers some advantages in terms of cooling, it can also lead to higher levels of moisture risk for the system, the DNV GL expert added.
“Make it watertight – this is more important than on land-based PV.”

No shit, Sherlock!
Given the variation seen in TOU tarriffs I would have thought that any pv generator who could track the sun relatively easily would be onto a winner for maximising both early morning and evening generation. Rotating a raft immediately struck me as an obvious option: Even rotating lighthouse mirror and lens structures used to be floated on mercury as a low-friction bearing!
A