Floating Solar Arrays

An emerging approach to solar installations, floating solar arrays ("floatovoltaics") are a demonstrated technology with some significant upsides. At large scales, they can cover up to 30 percent of lakes or reservoirs, with the added benefits of reducing evaporation in times of drought and reducing algae blooms. These arrays alsostay coolerthan land-based arrays, resulting in more efficient collection and storage. Floating solar arrays are already in active use atFort Bragg in the U.S,the Netherlands, and at much larger scales inChina and South Korea. There are concerns that large-scale use of floating arrays may cause unforeseen damage to local ecosystems in natural lakes, though there is significant potential for their use in reservoirs. Much like other forms of renewable energy, the growth of this technology would likely lead to local conflicts around the use of natural areas for the siting of renewables.