The water treatment plant used the Hydrelio floating platform developed by the French professional company Ciel&Terre to build this test system, and the performance of the project will be evaluated during a complete seasonal weather cycle.
Scientists from the Electrical Engineering Department of the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa deployed an experimental floating photovoltaic installation at the Kraaifontein Sewage Treatment Plant, a sewage treatment plant in the Western Cape.
The pilot project was developed with the support of the Municipality of Cape Town, the Water Research Council, and the professional company Floating Solar (Pty) Ltd in South Africa. The purpose is to evaluate the potential of promoting floating photovoltaic technology in Cape Town. Peter Varndell of Floating Solar said, “We will conduct a 12-month experiment while continuing to carry out other projects in Southern Africa.”
This year’s time frame is designed to evaluate the performance of the project throughout the seasonal weather cycle. UCT researcher Richard Larmour revealed, “During this period, we will report data at the time interval stipulated in the contract.”
Scientists will also evaluate the impact of water bodies on reducing the temperature of photovoltaic panels, and the impact of photovoltaic panels themselves on reducing water evaporation. This floating photovoltaic system was built using the Hydrelio floating platform developed by the French professional company Ciel&Terre. Larmour added: “The Kraaifontein Floating Solar Power Plant generates power only on a test scale and is intended for research purposes. Once the performance of this technology is accurately determined, the city can be incorporated into a larger body of water. Large-scale strategic planning.”