The first solar farm was in the 1960s, this time it covered the site on arrays of mountains, deserts, and rooftops. But recently, the new breed of solar farms could float in large bodies of water. This is a famous term for a floating solar farm. The installation is of course 10% to 15% more expensive than the traditional farms. The benefit covers land dependence limits, 16% more efficient due to the water being cool. Then, when the installation is on hydroelectric dams, it helps limit the evaporation. So, it saves more water for hydropower. However, dirty secrets linger on these green attempts.
Virgin plastics are the materials for those buoys. So, it requires natural gas or crude oil to produce. However, it does not apply the same thing in Alqueva, the panels sit on thousands of floaters from recycled plastic and cork. Amorim developed the composite material. It is a cork-processing group using cork composite as a thermal isolator for NASA space shuttles. So, at Alqueva it has decreased the farm’s carbon footprint by 30%.
In 2021, the value of the global floating solar market was %2.5bn. The estimation would surpass $10bn by 2030. In 2020 only, more than 300 floating solar farms used virgin HDPE. HDPE is the kind of plastic in milk jugs, detergent and shampoo bottles. Theoretically, HDPE is lightweight and highly durable. It does not absorb moisture easily. So, it suits the floating design for decades. Plus, it is recyclable. However, research disputes that recycling does not solve plastic pollution.
Meanwhile, the floating solar farm in Alqueva used EDP to develop the floating solar farm. This is a Portuguese utility firm building the first floating wind farm in Portugal. Alquera kick off, according to EDP, could endure enough energy supply by 30% of the homes in the region. This is around 1.500 families with 12.000 panels covering four soccer fields. This design is the biggest floating solar farm in Europe.
