Solar panels on pontoon in water catchment

dorian · Guru

Solar panels on pontoon in water catchment

Mike Harding · Guru

I wonder if the reduced sunlight will have a detrimental effect upon water quality or aquatic life?

With energy there is no such thing as something for nothing.

Whenarewethere · Guru

Being on water they will stay cooler.

My 120 watt setup which put out about 125 watts. If I water cooled the panels I could squeeze 137 watts out of them.

dorian · Guru

"The water within the basin is pumped in from the Otways and collected off nearby rooves before being treated and pumped to homes in Warrnambool, Allansford and Koroit."

It seems to me that water quality may not be an issue if it is being treated appropriately, at least from the perspective of human consumption. The other positive thing would be that there would be less loss from evaporation. In any case the Brierly Basin appears to be a man made reservoir, so I can't see that we have any responsibility for aquatic life.

Tony Bev · Guru

A good article, Dorian

So thanks for that

Knew nothing about double-sided solar panels, so googled them

They seem to give more watt per area, but alas they are heavier, so probably not suitable for some RV's

Below is a website with some explanations, which incorporates a video from Will Prowes, who seems to be a reputable source of info

Edit to say, the Will Prowes Video is the one at the bottom of the article

https://solar-adviser.com/what-is-bifacial-solar-panel/

-- Edited by Tony Bev on Saturday 1st of October 2022 06:58:45 PM

Warren-Pat_01 · Guru

I can see this idea being very useful up our way as evaporation on Ross Dam is said to be the same as the amount of water that Townsville uses!

Maintenance could be an issue, as could cyclones but technology should be able to overcome them.

Thanks Dorian - this will be an extra reason to drive down to see our daughter & family.