Window Cleaners Float Their Boat

Why window cleaners may have to float in the future to clean solar panels.

Clean Solar Solutions have completed the solar panel cleaning at the UK's very first floating solar farm in Reading, Berkshire, UK. It was installed by Floating Solar UK Ltd.  Here, shown in the video, window cleaners are cleaning 800 floating solar panels and the company also fit bird deterrents on the UK first ever floating solar array. The video shows how they did it. It is recommended to go to the youtube link to see the video.

BENEFITS OF FLOATING SOLAR SYSTEMS - WHY FLOATING?

1. Conserve valuable land and turn unused and non-revenue generating bodies of water into profitable solar power plants.

2. Floating solar panels protect ecologically-sensitive areas and conserve precious land for farming, mining, tourism and other land-intensives activities. Land-use conflicts are avoided and the environmental impact is minimized.

3. Increase power production and improve return on investment.

4. PV Panels and marine cables installed on water stay cooler, generate more electricity and have a higher ROI than rooftop or ground-mount systems of the same size.

5. Minimize water evaporation, conserve water.

6. By lowering the water temperature and reducing the size of the water area exposed to air, floating solar panels can reduce water evaporation by up to 33% on natural lakes and ponds, and by up to 50% on man-made facilities.

7. Improve water quality and cut maintenance costs.

8. By shading the water, floating solar panels help reduce algae growth.

Floating solar systems can also be outfitted with solar-powered aerators/circulators that oxygenate the water and reduce organic pollution naturally. These solutions minimise the need for harsh chemicals and reduce maintenance costs.

9. Preserve existing ecosystems.

10. No excavation work or concrete foundations are necessary to install floating solar platforms. Floating solar systems are 100% recyclable and are easy to dismantle. Made of HDPE plastic, they can safely be installed on drinking water reservoirs.

The world’s first floating photovoltaic system was installed in 2007 by SPG Solar on a pond at Far Niente Winery in Napa: 1,000 floating panels linked to 1,300 stationary panels on land to produce a total of 4 MW.

Floating PV systems: Photovoltaic systems have been successfully deployed on land and in space for many years, so it was only a matter of time before water-based PV systems emerged on larger scales. Over the past five years, a myriad of floating systems have evolved in varying degrees for use in ponds, reservoirs, canals, rivers and oceans.
Among the benefits of using floating PV systems is the water-cooling effect on silicon solar cells, the natural reflectivity of the water surface, the potential reduction in algae growth due to reduced sunlight penetration, and a lower water temperature in the areas below the arrays.
What was claimed to be the world’s first floating photovoltaic system was installed in 2007 by SPG Solar, of Novato, California, on a pond at Far Niente Winery in Napa. Land in Napa, famous for its wines, can cost US$300,000 per acre, so land use is at a premium. The 1,000 floating panels in the system were linked to 1,300 stationary panels on land to produce 4,000 kW total, utilizing Sharp flat panels and a proprietary mooring system.

Floating solar panels are saving vineyard land, many more are being built, some are even motorised.