CASE STUDY
Queen Elisabeth II resevoir, Walton on Thames- World's biggest floating solar farm
More than 23,000 solar panels on reservoir near Heathrow.
£6m project
Floating panels, covering only about 6% reservoir, will have no impact on the ecosystem, he says.
Though waterbirds, including moorhens and gulls, live on the margins, and a thin scum of litter is visible at the shore, the reservoir is not intended as a home to wildlife, and any fish living here are accidental visitors.
Renewable Energy at the reservoir, representing 6.3MW of capacity, or enough to generate equivalent electricity consumption of about 1,800 homes.
DISADVANTAGES
ADVANTAGES
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Solar energy is a renewable energy resource and there
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No fuel costs
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No harmful polluting gases are produced
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Potential for harnessing the sun's energy is enrormous
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Diverse Applications- You can generate electricity (photovoltaics) or heat (solar thermal).
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Low Maintenance Costs- generally don’t require a lot of maintenance
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Technology development- Innovations in quantum physics and nanotechnology can potentially increase effectiveness of solar panels and double, or even triple, the electrical input of the solar power systems.
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Can still be collected during cloudy and rainy days
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Solar cells are expensive, so cost of electricity is high
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Cooler areas may need to be supplemented with a conventional boiler.
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Neither solar cells nor solar panels work at night. Also when cloudy, efficiency of panels greatly decreases.
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Locations where greatest amounts of solar energy could be harvested are often great distances from major centres of population.
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Conversion efficiency relatively low
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Where sunshine less reliable, not viable
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panels require a lot of space & some roofs not big enough to fit desired number of solar panels
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Transportation & installation associated with emission of greenhouse gases
INFORMATION
Earth receives energy from sun as incoming radiation but some lost passing through atmosphere.
Variations of energy & heat between latitudes. Tropics- net surplus of energy (due to proximity to sun) but high latitudes- net deficit.
Many houses in sunny Mediterranean climates use roof panels to heat water + homes & large-scale solar power stations built in California & Spain. However in UK, sunshine less reliable & potential for large-scale development of power source is limited on current levels of technology.