Energy – it’s all around us. We, and every other living thing are made of energy. So are various natural resources, including fossil fuels, uranium, and other materials that have been exploited in the name of providing the world with enough electricity to fuel an ever-growing demand. We humans have been well aware of the fact that renewable energy exists for some time now; the question is, why do we continue to use methods of electricity production that cause horrific damage to our planet?
How Solar Energy Works
Probably one of the first forms of energy ever used by humanity, solar energy is radiant light and heat that is sourced directly from the sun’s rays. There are different forms of solar energy technology; solar heating and solar architecture are two wonderful ways to add sustainability to your home or business. Solar thermal electricity and solar photovoltaics are excellent examples of how solar energy can replace non-sustainable methods for producing electric energy.
Solar energy works in two ways. The first is as passive technology, in which the sun’s rays are used, as is, to heat or light a home. The second, and the one we’re going to be focusing on most, is active solar technology, in which the sun’s rays are collected and transformed into electricity for individual use or for distribution to the grid.
In order to collect and transform the sun’s rays, we use technology called solar cells; these panels are actually very simply designed, yet they are capable of performing an incredibly valuable task. The simplest of these little photovoltaic cells are found in small devices such as calculators; very large ones have been used to provide power to satellites in space since 1958. Look around, and you’ll see them providing power to changeable message signs on roadsides, powering emergency telephones and parking meters, and in other places, as well. They work by producing direct current electricity from sunlight, which passes through the protective glass barrier into the solar cells themselves, which contain any of a number of photovoltaic materials including cadmium telluride, amorphous silicon, polycrystalline silicon, and others. Any number of cells can be connected together to form larger solar panels, which in turn can be connected with one another to form solar arrays. Energy is either used on the spot, stored in batteries for later use, or transmitted to larger capacitors. The energy which is collected is then used to power any sort of electrical device you can imagine – from a computer to a car or boat.
Before we go on to talk about offshore solar arrays for energy production, let’s take a moment to look at just how much solar energy is available. In the space of an average hour, the earth’s atmosphere, land masses, and oceans receive enough energy to provide power for all human needs for an entire year. The amount of energy that reaches our planet’s surface is so incredibly large that within the span of a single year, it equals approximately twice as much as all the energy that has been or ever will be obtained from all the Earth’s non-renewable energy resources, including oil, coal, mined uranium, and natural gas combined. Of course, energy potential from solar sources varies from one place to another, with areas closer to the equator having the best potential; still, this should not prevent people in more northerly or southerly climes from taking advantage of the sun’s free, non-polluting energy whenever possible.
Floating Power Plants and Other Solar Electricity Plants
First developed during the 1980’s, commercial concentrated solar power plants which use concentrated solar beam technology combined with photovoltaics are becoming more common in many of the world’s sunniest places. The largest photovoltaic plant in the world is China’s 200 megawatt Golmud Solar Park; California’s Mojave Desert SEGS Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) installation is the world’s largest plant to date, producing an astonishing 354 megawatts. This plant powers more than 232,000 homes and according to researchers, it displaces around 3,800 tons of pollution annually – pollution that would have been released by burning coal or oil to create the same amount of energy.
These facilities are enormous, with the SEGS plant taking up 1,600 acres or 6.5 square kilometers. End to end, its parabolic mirrors would extend for a distance of 229 miles. In most places where the need for energy is highest, this amount of flat land with almost unlimited access to sunlight year-round is just not available, so smaller solar power plants are constructed, and architects add solar panels in a variety of shapes and sizes to buildings in order to make them either completely independent of outside power or partially self-reliant. This type of technology is still costly on an individual scale, which is just one reason new research is pointing the way toward the possibility of floating solar power plants on a large scale.
Small-scale floating solar power plants are already being used in some surprising places; for instance, wineries in California’s Napa Valley have begun installing solar panels atop irrigation ponds, and in Cadarache, in the southeast of France, testing is underway for a new floating solar energy plant that not only creates electricity for consumers, but which also takes on the task of desalinating water and making it fit for drinking and agricultural use.
The first large floating solar power plant is under construction in India, where there are over 2,000 natural lakes, more than 65,000 man-made reservoirs, and an entire coastline suitable for floating solar array installation. It’s a great place to start, since India has room to build new infrastructure and is looking for ways to clean up its environment. Just like solar arrays based on land, electricity generated from the newest power plants will be transmitted to storage facilities and users via insulated cables; these cables are buried securely beneath lake beds and lead to traditional power transmission lines for easy distribution.
The best places for floating solar arrays to be installed are in lakes, reservoirs, and sheltered bays that are not too deep; easy access will make monitoring and maintenance simpler. While widespread use of floating solar arrays is still in the works, it, along with other forms of renewable energy, is something that will ultimately help all of us by decreasing the amount of fossil fuels humanity uses.