Poland Adopts Floating PV Technology

Poland Adopts
Floating PV Technology

Today marks seven weeks of continuous travel for Think Greener, LLC through the EU and twenty-three weeks for 2021! Along the way, we met many people from different levels of society implementing sustainable solutions around the world, contributing to reversing the effects of the climate crisis we all face.

I write this blog from the beautiful city of Lubin, Poland where snow lies on the ground and the Christmas Market’s lights bring cheer to all as we are amongst the holiday season. Poland, known for its cold and lengthy winters is making a new claim as it transitions away from coal-fired power plants. The country is focusing on renewable energy, biodiversity, sustainability, and climate neutrality as it strives towards the goals of the Polish Energy Policy 2040. The economy is recovering, the population is increasing and the local demand for energy keeps rising.

The Polish government has adopted a long-term strategy for renewable energy in which #photovoltaic is a key solution to meet the increased demand for energy. Poland has implemented a solution for floating solar that is gaining popularity around the world. This solution allows PV panels to be in areas normally not suitable for generation of renewable energy, such as man-made bodies of water like lakes and reservoirs or behind existing dams where the hydropower infrastructure is already set in place. These locations will increase the opportunity for land conservation and avoid negative environmental impacts the floating PV panels have on aquatic life.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) released a report in 2018, estimating there were 24,000 man-made reservoirs in the US suitable for the development of floating solar. This could provide enough power to meet 10% of the nation’s annual electricity! Have a look at this link: “News Release: NREL Details Great Potential for Floating PV Systems” for more impressive metrics NREL’s report produced indicating close to 50% of global electricity consumption can be achieved!

Poland has teamed up with a Chinese company, Mibet Energy, to implement the floating PV array as their patent technology can resist wind and support large snow loads. New technology is allowing for new solutions to pave the way and be implemented in different areas around the world. A benefit of having the floating solar PV array located in Poland’s colder climate is increased solar conversion efficiency as PV panels perform better in lower temperatures.

Some other options for increasing the efficiency of the array is to add wind turbines and tidal technology to harness a greater amount of renewable power within a smaller footprint. You can read my blog, The Tri-Fecta of Renewable Energy, to learn more about this upcoming technology.

Check out our website to find ways you can help reverse effects of the climate crisis and get active!