‘Floating’ solar farms on Delhi’s water bodies, the first one at Bawana lake
- December 26, 2022
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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‘Floating’ solar farms on Delhi’s water bodies, the first one at Bawana lake
Subject :Environment
Context:
- After rooftop panels, the Delhi government has come up with a new proposal to generate electricity through solar energy by installing ‘floating solar farms’ in lakes, water bodies and ponds across the city.
About the project:
- The project has been started in Outer Delhi’s Bawana lake.
- A proposal has been made to install floating solar panels on water bodies such as on the Yamuna at Wazirabad and several ponds and lakes.
- The Bawana power plant has a 1,500-1,600 MW capacity.
- Floating solar panels are cheaper and more efficient than rooftop ones.
What are Floating Solar Panels?
- These are Photovoltaic (PV) modules mounted on platforms that float on water reservoirs, lakes, and where conditions are right seas and oceans.
- These platforms are typically moored on calmer bodies of water, such as ponds, lakes or reservoirs.
- These installations are relatively quick to construct, silent to run and require no land levelling or removal of vegetation.
- The 100 MW Ramagundam floating solar PV project in Telangana, is the largest floating solar power plant in India.
What are the Environment Benefits of the Project?
- The most obvious advantage is the minimum land requirement mostly for associated evacuation arrangements.
- Further, with the presence of floating solar panels, the evaporation rate from water bodies is reduced, thus helping in water conservation.
- Approximately 32.5 lakh cubic meters per year of water evaporation can be avoided.
- Efficient in Reducing Co2 Emission.