Duke Vitality is piloting a floating photo voltaic farm in Florida – the state’s first – on an present cooling pond in Polk County.

The virtually 1-megawatt (MW) floating photo voltaic array options greater than 1,800 photo voltaic panels that float on high of two acres of the water’s floor on the pond – which was a phosphate mining pit – on the Duke Vitality Hines Vitality Complicated in Bartow, southeast of Lakeland. It’s proving sufficient clear electrical energy to energy round 100 native households.

The bifacial floating photo voltaic panels Duke makes use of within the challenge produce 10-20% extra energy than single-sided panels.

The challenge took round six months to assemble and connect with the grid. The modular floating photo voltaic farm was assembled on land earlier than crews anchored it within the pond. Between each different row of panels, there’s a walkway so crews can do electrical upkeep or inspections.

The floating photo voltaic pilot is a part of Duke Vitality’s Imaginative and prescient Florida program, which is testing different renewable tasks as nicely, resembling inexperienced hydrogen and battery vitality storage. It’s beforehand piloted floating photo voltaic in North Carolina, with the US Military.

Floating photo voltaic panels are cooled by the water, making them extra environment friendly, they usually additionally cut back water evaporation and restrict algae development.

Learn extra: The US Military simply launched the most important floating photo voltaic farm within the Southeast – why it is a huge deal

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