Sunengy, Australia, partners with India’s largest integrated private power utility, Tata Power to build its first floating solar plant in India

                   

In India, a pilot plant for the low-cost, floating-on-water, solar technology is to be build by the end of this year.  This, floating-on-water, solar technology is developed by Sunengy, Australia. Sunengy, Australia, partners with India’s largest integrated private power utility, Tata Power to build its first floating solar plant in India and construction will commence in August 2011. This project allows Sunengy to demonstrate the practicality of its technology in one of the world’s most promising solar power markets. This nascent technology will be demonstrated in the natural environment; it utilises the water surface for mounting and does not compete with land that can be used for other purposes The Liquid Solar Array (LSA) technology uses traditional Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) technology – a lens and a small area of solar cells that tracks the sun throughout the day, like a sunflower. Floating the LSA on water reduces the need for expensive supporting structures to protect it from high winds. The lenses submerge in bad weather and the water also cools the cells which increases their efficiency and life-span. LSA effectively turns a dam into a very large battery, offering free solar storage and opportunity for improved water resource management. LSA needs no heavy materials or huge land acquisitions and is effectively cyclone proof. If India uses just one percent of its 30,000 square kilometers of captured water with this LSA system, the power generated will be equivalent to 15 large coal-fired power stations.