Feasibility Study of Floating Solar Panels over Lakes in Bengaluru City

Abstract

Energy production has become an issue of prime concern for many nations across the globe due to exponential rise in demand. The need to produce energy in an eco-friendly route is making it inevitable for countries to adopt renewable energy into their grids. With all the global bodies urging nations to explore and adopt clean sources of energy, India’s enormous solar potential provides the much-needed sustainable source of energy, replacing conventional sources that are both polluting and rapidly depleting. To produce large amounts of energy from solar, solar parks spanning across large areas are required, making it impossible to serve in highly populated cities like Bengaluru, where spacious lands are not available. The rooftop solutions contribute very minimally towards the city’s energy demand, because of the dense urban cover and congested planning. But the city has large number of water bodies including tanks, large lakes and reservoirs. The floating solar PV (FSPV) technology provides a good alternative and gives a new opportunity for solar generation. In the present study, 32 lakes within the city limits were considered spanning across 3294 acres of lake area and was analyzed for suitability of FSPV systems, solar output assessment and estimation of evaporation losses.