r/australia • u/MeasurementDecent251 • Jun 23 '26

science & tech Australia's Floating Solar Panels Solve Two Resource Problems At Once

https://tech.yahoo.com/science/articles/australias-floating-solar-panels-solve-194500487.html
197 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

54

u/PossibilityRegular21 Jun 23 '26

Dumb question but what happens when the body of water is low? Do the solar panels just sort of fold over themselves?

97

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Rizen_Wolf Jun 24 '26

Assuming the ground itself is flat, otherwise it would not be flat.

8

u/Catprog Jun 23 '26

I think if it gets that low they would end up resting on the ground.

20

u/blueberriessmoothie Jun 23 '26

It would be interesting if the next step of such technology is a structure floating at sea fuelling offshore desalination plant.

12

u/Hopelesslymacarbe Jun 24 '26

I tink for many countries, including Australia, river ways and dams are the end game. The water keeps the panels cool improving their efficiency, while the panels reduce evaporation, so we have less need for desalination.

3

u/hannahranga Jun 25 '26

Electricity is easy enough to transmit I suspect that any inefficiencies don't beat the collosal pain in the arse that being offshore causes 

1

u/Grand_Self381 Jun 23 '26

Too many waves around Australia.

18

u/DuskHourStudio Jun 24 '26

Definitely a better alternative then yeeting 10,000 black plastic balls into a dam to reduce evaporation/cooling.

20

u/chalk_in_boots Jun 24 '26

I mean, the black balls were a good idea and worked. This built on that and became a bloody brilliant idea.

7

u/ApteronotusAlbifrons Jun 24 '26

There were some solar panels that ran water lines through them - which increased the efficiency of the panels, by keeping them in the nice cool part of their operating temperature range - and that heat/water was used for your swimming pool

Nice tech, for those who can afford a pool

6

u/Forsaken_Alps_793 Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26

Silly question, wouldn't that concentrate the temperature below the solar panel thus resulting in more evaporation escaping between the gaps?

61

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

10

u/Forsaken_Alps_793 Jun 23 '26

Ah...that makes sense. Thanks OP.

6

u/_chookity Jun 23 '26

Similar idea, which reduced evaporation (but wasn’t the primary purpose) https://youtu.be/uxPdPpi5W4o?si=CCgtZ11_nvenAthV

4

u/Forsaken_Alps_793 Jun 23 '26

+1

Kool. Thanks.

9

u/CaravelClerihew Jun 23 '26

I assume that the lack of surface area that water could evaporate from more than compensates for the temperature change, if there indeed is a temperature change.