Using Solar Islands to Power Crowded Cities
DNV, a global consultancy firm has released its personal designs for floating solar farms which it believes could grow to rival offshore wind farms, and offer a genuine solution to power densely populated cities – which are based on the coast.
The intention is to use 560W thin film solar panels, which are lighter and more flexible than traditional glass panels. Huge hexagonal islands will then be constructed and linked together, providing support for 4,200 solar panels over an area the size of a sports stadium.
SUNdy, the name given to the concept, could then see several of the floating hexagonal islands linked together to form a field of solar panels with a capacity of 50MW or more, capable of providing power to 30,000 people.
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The hexagonal solar arrays will be split into large prefabricated parts, will should make mass production easy, and also the offshore assembly.
Bjørn Tore Markussen, the chief operational officer at DNV, believes that “the SUNdy floating solar field concept offers sound and sustainable development prospects, particularly in Asia and the congested coastal megacities where there’s limited opportunity for rooftop solar power and urban areas which command premium prices for large-scale mounted solar production.”
By. Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com
So what happens if a big storm comes along??
I would hope someone has already thought about that. I doubt you could finance something like that if it could not be insured.