Industry

Florida’s first floating solar farm is now online

by admin 30 Comments

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Pinterest
Share on LinkedIn
Florida floating solar

Duke Energy is piloting a floating solar farm in Florida – the state’s first – on an existing cooling pond in Polk County.

The almost 1-megawatt (MW) floating solar array features more than 1,800 solar panels that float on top of two acres of the water’s surface on the pond – which used to be a phosphate mining pit – at the Duke Energy Hines Energy Complex in Bartow, southeast of Lakeland. It’s proving enough clean electricity to power around 100 local households.

The bifacial floating solar panels Duke uses in the project produce 10-20% more power than single-sided panels.

The project took around six months to construct and connect to the grid. The modular floating solar farm was assembled on land before crews anchored it in the pond. Between every other row of panels, there’s a walkway so crews can do electrical maintenance or inspections.

The floating solar pilot is part of Duke Energy’s Vision Florida program, which is testing other renewable projects as well, such as green hydrogen and battery energy storage. It’s previously piloted floating solar in North Carolina, with the US Army.

Floating solar panels are cooled by the water, making them more efficient, and they also reduce water evaporation and limit algae growth.

Read more: The US Army just launched the largest floating solar farm in the Southeast – why this is a big deal

To limit power outages and make your home more resilient, consider going solar with a battery storage system. In order to find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and you share your phone number with them.

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. – ad*

This article was originally published by Electrek.co. Read the original article here.
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Pinterest
Share on LinkedIn

Products You May Like

30 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *