RANCHI: After the successful installation of roof-top solar power plants on district court buildings, Jharkhand will soon take a lead in harnessing solar energy on water bodies by installing Floating Solar Power Plants (FSPP) on the water reservoirs.
“Following a proposal submitted by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a joint working group was formed to carry out the site survey of reservoirs and dams and prepare a plan of action for installation of FSPPs,” said Jharkhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (JREDA) managing director Niranjan Kumar.
After the field visit, a report was submitted by the joint working group, which illustrates the feasibility of FSPP in Getalsood and Dhurwa Dam each having 100 MW and 50 MW capacities respectively. Kumar said the project will be completed within a period of one year. “A meeting was also organised with JREDA officials and the SECI MD on Thursday. The MD was happy to see our preparedness for installation of FSPP.”
Kumar said FSPPs are generally more efficient than land- based panels due to natural cooling of the solar panels by the water present in the reservoir, increasing power generation by at least 5 to 10 per cent as compared to the solar panels installed on the ground. “Studies also show that Jharkhand has solar insulation ranging between 5.0 to 5.5 KWH per meter square per day which is considered to be good resource for solar power generation.”
Moreover, efficiency of solar panels also gets increased in the water as the underwater prevents it from heating. “Not only that, FSPPs will also prevent at least 5 per cent of water in the reservoir from getting evaporated. Also, there is no risk of getting the water contaminated, and FSPPs do not create any hurdle in conducting any other activities like fishing,” he said.
The FSPPs will be connected through the nearest grid so that the power generated from it could easily evacuated by them for further use. Installation of FSPP is estimated at around 4.5 crore per MW and will have a minimum life of 25 years.
Although it is not common in India, FSPP is gaining a lot of popularity across the world as it saves space and utilises water bodies, besides reducing evaporation to a large extent.