Floating solar panels to help drought ravaged town

By MiNDFOOD

PHOTO: INFRATECH
PHOTO: INFRATECH

An Australian startup is set to help a severely drought-affected Californian town by exporting its groundbreaking floating solar technology.

It will be the second large-scale floating solar plant built by Sydney company, Infratech Industries, after a successful instillation at Jamestown in South Australia.

The system- made up of 276 rafts, 3576 panels and 12 treatment pumps – will be built in the drought-affected town of Holtville in Southern California.

It is estimated it will generate up to 20 percent more power than a fixed land-based solar system and it will also power the town’s new water treatment facility, save water from evaporation and reduce the local authority’s reliance on fossil fuels and treatment chemicals.

The advantages of a water-based system include  that they help to improve water quality and reduce evaporation while also restricting algal blooms.

When land-based solar panels get too hot they start to lose efficiency – the water-based panels solve that problem.

Holtville Council member David Bradshaw told The Huffington Post the system would enable Holtville to save viable farming land while reducing its reliance on fossil fuels.

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