China’s renewable energy trajectory leapt forward with its floating solar power plant, the largest in the world getting operational recently. The power plant is located in the coal-rich city of Huainan in south Anhui province of China. The system is built by Sungrow Power Supply Co. Ltd., a global leading photovoltaic (PV) inverter systems supplier, and the 40MW plant has been effectively linked to China’s grid.
The system is designed to work in high humidity and salt spray environments. Renxian Cao, President of Sungrow, said that they were committed to introducing cutting-edge technologies to products and offering better products and solutions to customers.
The floating solar power plants come with an array of advantages, as they don’t focus on using valuable land in already densely populated areas. The water acts as a natural coolant to the system and improves generation while limiting long-term heat-induced degradation. The panels facilitate in conserving freshwater supplies by lowering the amount of evaporation. The Huainan floating solar power plant facilitated by a lake was created by rain after the land surrounding it collapsed due to subsidence, which occurs due to intensive coal mining operations.
The plants are reportedly easy to work on, and the plant’s size can be easily increased by shipping in a new batch of solar panels and connecting them to the floating plant. Though, floating solar systems on water may reportedly face the challenge of rust. The systems need to be waterproof and resistant to seepage.
China is poised to becoming a world leader in the renewables domain and is committed to a greener and sustainable future. Despite the many challenges of pollution, China is actively adopting new systems revolving around renewable energy sources.
