Some 500 open lakes left as a legacy of the German lignite mining industry could potentially host more than 50 GW of solar power. With this in mind, the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy is funding a three-year study of the revenue potential of the technology.
The German government will fund a research project to investigate the economic potential of installing floating solar power on open lakes left by lignite mining.
With project partner Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems assessing the technical potential in the mid-double-digit gigawatt range of around 500 such water bodies in Germany, the German energy company's clean energy division RWE Renewables will incorporate the results of a three-year testing period to help assess the potential to generate such sites domestically and globally.
The German developer will also select the open lake on which Dutch installer Volta Solar will help construct four floating arrays, with a nearby ground-mounted reference array included in the study. Each of the arrays will have a generation of 30 kWp.
The Fraunhofer announcement said the PV2Float study, funded by Germany's Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy, will assess the technical requirements for installing solar energy on such water surfaces, their economic viability, their environmental effects and their public acceptance.
With German manufacturer Heckert Solar to provide the project with "innovative concepts for photovoltaic modules", according to Fraunhofer ISE, the research body will conduct studies on the durability of the installations and develop further modules if necessary. Fraunhofer staff will also study the regulation of floating photovoltaic systems in Germany, stimulate the participation of local stakeholders in the project and study the business case for floating systems.
Another project partner, the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, together with the Dresden-based geo and hydroscience center Institut für Wasser und Boden Dr. Ullmann, will investigate the ecological effects of floating solar systems.
Source: pv-magazine
