DOE Says Combining Floating Solar With Hydroelectric Could Provide 40% Of The World’s Energy Needs

iStock | Getty Images. Solar panels in aerial view, rows array of polycrystalline silicon solar cells or photovoltaics in solar power plant floating on the water in lake.A study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory suggests that if floating solar was installed on hydro reservoirs globally, the hybrid systems could generate anywhere from 16% to 40% of the world’s demand for electricity. FSEC’s John Sherwin, program manager of testing and certification, agrees and speculates the generation to be on the middle to lower end of that scale, without first researching how solar panels respond to the stress of being on the water, as well as other variables.

CleanTechnica | October 5, 2020

Experts: Solar energy offering cheaper, cleaner energy alternative for Floridians

James Fenton, director of the Florida Solar Energy said, “The price of solar has gotten to the point where it’s cheaper than combined cycle natural gas plants, and this turnover, this change or this grid parody, if you will, occurred about in 2015,” Fenton said. The change has turned something people once saw as a luxury into a bargain.”

WESH 2 News | December 6, 2019