Most people when hear ‘solar power’ instantly thinks about the traditional solar panels on the rooftop or in the solar parks in large barren land. Well they are not wrong either as traditionally utility scale and rooftop solar panels have always dominated the market.
But with new innovations/technologies taking place and the promise they are showing if these product shows viability it can work wonders on commercial scale.
Let’s look at the 5 technologies that are taking over the traditional world of solar energy.
Floating Solar aka Floatovoltaics
With advancements in solar cell manufacturing, the prices of the photovoltaic cells have come down significantly in the past decade. These are now being used in floating solar plants. As the name tells itself that it is a solar plant that floats on water bodies.
They can be deployed on reservoirs, dams or any other water holding body. Not only they provide the same capacity as the traditional solar plant would give it has plethora of other benefits as well.
This is the best solution for a country who is short of land and is looking to switch to renewable energy this is great. For example, in country like India, where a lot of population is present and it is an agricultural concentric country, land is of utter importance. Using floating solar tackles, the issue. If we are using the setup on water bodies, it prevents evaporation which helps water bodies stores water for further use.
BIPV Solar Technology
BIPV stands for building integrated photovoltaics. And now as the name suggests it blends in the building. Rather being on the roof it is installed in the walls of building or form the canopies of the building. Without compromising the building’s design and strength it is aesthetically appealing.
The great news is that not only it is aesthetically appealing but can cut down the cost of mounting structure of solar system. The photovoltaic PV glasses installed as building materials act as an energy-generating device. This allows natural light inside homes and offices, just as conventional architectural glasses.
Solar Hydroponic Farming
Hydroponic farming is nowadays picking up popularity among house hold as they want the food to be as natural as possible. And what better than growing your veggies and fruits on your own in front of your eyes.
Hydroponic farming is an agricultural practice where the plants and vegetation is grown without the use of soil and manure. The nutrients required to nourish the plant is fed into the flowing water.
Now the question arises why solar in hydroponics? Using the solar aspect, we can nourish the plants even in the night. All we need is panels, batteries, LED lights and that’s it. Someone going a level up an also add light sensor and voltage and current sensor for advancement.
During day the solar panel generated electricity that LED uses to glow inside the home, while at the night the solar power generated can be stored in battery. And then using the battery, LED can be light up in the night in absence of sunlight.
Agrivoltiacs
Agrivoltaics or agriphotovoltiacs is the technologies of simultaneously using the land for both photovoltaic power generation and agriculture. The coexistence of solar panel and crop not only reduce the land required but also makes land multipurpose to use. Most common example are china and Japan. They are using this practice extensively to feed people the power and the vegetation.
