NEW DISCOVERY - Is Solar Energy Water-Bound?

NEW DISCOVERY - Is Solar Energy Water-Bound?. Solar energy is a competitive industry and the race to see which company or research team can design the most efficient and cost effective technology. Israel Solaris Group and France's EDF Energy have joined forces to achieve a system that solves many problems that continue to affect most traditional applications of solar technology, including space and cost.

Science Daily reports that the collaboration has resulted in floating solar power plants. The joint project has been running for some time now and is nearing the end of its second phase, ie the construction of the prototype. Hopefully in September 2011 will launch the third phase, which is the application of technology accompanied by analysis and testing.

The tests were carried out during a period of nine months in Cadarache, in southeastern France, during which researchers better understand how the seasons and water levels affect productivity and performance. Come June 2012 and the team of collaborators hope to be able to let their products in bulk in the market.

Dr. Cassel, one of the principal investigators of the project, says that a lot of thought went into the water bodies that would be most suitable for the project. It takes a lot of water, but obviously did not want to interfere with natural water systems, or affect the resorts or the randomness of the waves at sea. In the end, we decided to use industrial water basins that are already being used for other purposes. Consideration was also given to the preservation of aquatic life in the watershed. As a result, the system has been designed to be breathable, ie, oxygen is still able to reach the water.

Science Daily quotes Dr. Kassel: "One of the objectives of the implementation stage is to monitor closely the effects of this new technology on the environment with the help of specialists and a control sample before any harmful effects of the environment in water quality, flora or fauna. Our choices of materials are always made with this concern in mind. "

As a pioneer in the idea sounds, is not new.

In May 2008, Peter Richardson won the International Design Awards competition land and sea with an idea of ​​Solar Lily Pads. Richardson provides a series of water lily on a platform covered with solar panels floating in the River Clyde in Glasgow.

A month later Inhabitat revealed a winery in Napa Valley, California, which generates power using solar energy system on pontoons floating in a pond for irrigation. The winery reports that they found that floating solar panels not only generate electricity but also significantly reduced evaporation.

Also in 2008, Thomas Hinderling, researcher and executive director of Swiss R & D Centre Suisse d'Electronique Company et de microtechnique, reached a financing agreement to build lucrative solar islands in the UAE. The islands are designed to float on the ocean and panels that swivel to get full exposure to the sun.

In 2010, American Recycler published an article about a solar integration company called SPG Solar, which focuses on the use of solar energy systems to address other environmental problems, such as water conservation. CEO, Tom Rooney, says that "floatovoltaics" play an important role in the conservation of water sources, avoiding or reducing evaporation. This, he says, is important in regions where water supply is decreasing.