Energy production and water savings from floating solar photovoltaics on global reservoirs

Growing global energy use and the adoption of sustainability goals to limit carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning are increasing the demand for clean energy, including solar. Floating photovoltaic (FPV) systems on reservoirs are advantageous over traditional ground-mounted solar systems in terms...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature sustainability 2023-07, Vol.6 (7), p.865-874
Main Authors: Jin, Yubin, Hu, Shijie, Ziegler, Alan D., Gibson, Luke, Campbell, J. Elliott, Xu, Rongrong, Chen, Deliang, Zhu, Kai, Zheng, Yan, Ye, Bin, Ye, Fan, Zeng, Zhenzhong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
639/4077/909/4101
704/242
706/2805
Analysis
Clean energy
Clean technology
Earth and Environmental Science
Energy conservation
Environment
Environmental Sciences
Evaporation
Land conservation
Miljövetenskap
Photovoltaics
Renewable energy
Reservoirs
Resource efficiency
Solar energy
Solar panels
Sustainability
Sustainable Development
Water loss
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Growing global energy use and the adoption of sustainability goals to limit carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning are increasing the demand for clean energy, including solar. Floating photovoltaic (FPV) systems on reservoirs are advantageous over traditional ground-mounted solar systems in terms of land conservation, efficiency improvement and water loss reduction. Here, based on multiple reservoir databases and a realistic climate-driven photovoltaic system simulation, we estimate the practical potential electricity generation for FPV systems with a 30% coverage on 114,555 global reservoirs is 9,434 ± 29 TWh yr −1 . Considering the proximity of most reservoirs to population centres and the potential to develop dedicated local power systems, we find that 6,256 communities and/or cities in 124 countries, including 154 metropolises, could be self-sufficient with local FPV plants. Also beneficial to FPV worldwide is that the reduced annual evaporation could conserve 106 ± 1 km 3 of water. Our analysis points to the huge potential of FPV systems on reservoirs, but additional studies are needed to assess the potential long-term consequences of large systems. Solutions that can support multiple sustainability goals related to clean energy, and resource use efficiency, will be crucial in the near future. The study estimates the potential of floating solar panels on reservoirs globally to generate renewable energy, reduce water losses and conserve land.
ISSN:2398-9629
2398-9629
DOI:10.1038/s41893-023-01089-6