Singapore Testing Floating Solar Panels

Singapore’s Public Utilities Board (PUB) has embarked on a nine-month study to test the potential to use reservoirs to generate solar energy. Ten reservoirs will participate.

Channel NewsAsia quotes PUB to the effect that the open spaces of reservoirs appear to offer potential for solar energy collection. The goal of the study, the story says, is to assess the installation and yield of solar panels deployed in such facilities.

The Choa Chu Kang Waterworks earlier this year deployed 3,333 panels and is using them to generate about 7 percent of the plant’s daily energy needs. Floating solar panels also are being test by PUB and the Solar Energy Research Institute at the Tengeh Reservoir.

A study by P&S Market Research found that the floating solar panel industry was valued at $3.89 million in 2014 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 116.1 percent between this year and 2020. Growth factors include accelerated governmental initiatives, the ability to employ the technology without using large land areas and increased efficiency, the release says.