Transcript
Is this real? Panasonic asked me to do a video on Cool Solar Power Science, and they mentioned this article, which I was already working on. So, first, limitless energy isn't a thing. We're not talking about fusion. The article overhypes a peer-review paper that analyzed 40 years of global weather data. They identified tropical ocean regions with very stable wind and waves, making them safer for solar panels. If all of these regions were covered in solar panels, yes, they could power the world. But you could say the same for Texas. are harder due to corrosive salt water, wear and tear from even the small 15-foot waves, difficult maintenance, and tropical moisture diffracting sunlight reducing the available energy. But over 100 floating solar panel arrays exist globally. So what? They're 4 to 7% more efficient because the water cools them. They save space. And so far they're mostly used in man-made reservoirs where they help reduce evaporation and also cut down on algae growth. So, limitless energy? Absolutely not. Challenging to implement in the ocean? clean energy that I'm excited about for the future? Definitely.
Additional notes
@Panasonic USA #panasonic #ad One study found that covering only 30% of the surface of a basin reduced 49% of the evaporation! Those man-made reservoirs are definitely the low-hanging fruit of floating solar right now. As always, with solar power, one of the biggest challenges is how to STORE (and transmit )all the excess energy generated. The original article cited another cool study about Indonesia's high Pumped Hydro Energy Storage Potential. 📚Studies Referenced: DOI: 10.3390/solar3030023 DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.116084 DOI: 10.1002/er.5170 DOI: 10.3390/en15093457