An innovative floating solar panel follows the sun

The solar island, which is floating on a lake in the Netherlands, has 180 movable solar panels that increase energy production by 40%.

It's almost like a stalker, a sustainable solution from a Portuguese company that follows the Sun.

In contrast to the many floating solar solutions in water bodies around the world, SolarisFloat has developed an innovative floating solution. The floating island uses single- or dual-axis tracking, and its electric engines use less than 0.5 percent of its energy. The installation, called PROTEVS, is the first to combine floating solar panels with Sun-tracking.

The island is floating in Oostvoorne Meer, a lake in southwest Netherlands. With 180 solar panels, PROTEVS has 73 kilowatts of peak power (kWp) installed and can increase energy production by up to 40% thanks to its sophisticated technology that turns the panels based on the sun's movements.

Solar farms could be made from the detachable panels

There are two types of solutions the company offers. The first is the PROTEVS+, which has 180 modules and dual-axis tracking. As with the project above, it has a diameter of 38 meters and an area of 1,444 square meters. There's a vertical movement to the panels.

There's also the PROTEVS Single360, which works on one axis. There are 360 modules on a slope of 10 degrees. Using 410 W panels, the Protevs Single360 can produce 147 kWp.

The PROTEVS solutions, according to Solaris Float, are modular, detachable, and scalable. They can even be combined to make a floating solar farm because they can be detached.

Floating solar installations offer a unique advantage: they don't take up valuable land space.

Evaporates water more slowly

These solar floating farms, according to the company, goes above and beyond the precedented environmental impact. The floating structure and PV panels cast shadows that reduce "superficial" temperatures, which is good for the aquatic ecosystem. According to SolarisFloat, evaporation in water is reduced by 60 percent.

Secondly, the water quality could improve due to the reduction of algae, and the reproduction of other microbes, which can happen due to the shadowing effect. Installing water-oxygenating equipment can make this even better.

Space-saving sun-tracking panels

Solar farms that track the sun have limitations, according to Popular Science . First, the location. The panels on Proteus' systems won't be as efficient near the Equator since they'll stay horizontal all day. Also, they'll need to be installed where tidal currents are weaker.

In the long run, floating solar farms can be pretty good - especially when you consider how much space it takes to set them up. According to Popular Science, a study from Leiden University in The Netherlands estimated how much land solar farms need - which is about 40-5 times that of coal plants and 90-100 times that of gas providers. It's definitely a good idea to have floating solar farms so there's room for other projects that can help fight climate change.

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