This has been one of the green technologies that I have been most excited about. This technology can produce energy that is five times cheaper than current energy rates. Solar islands are 5km wide platforms that float on the surface of the ocean and are covered by termosolar panels which precisely reflect sunlight onto pipes that carry water. The water is thus turned to steam and flows through the pipes to a plant on shore where the steam powers enormous turbines. One island can produce hundreds of kilowatts of energy a day and these islands will be used in large numbers. The two main resources being utilized are sunlight and water which are both widely available and renewable. These islands can be used in conjunction with desalination technology so that ocean water can be utilized. Two cool features of this technology is that the islands can store energy so that energy can be provided at night and the termosolar panels can move to follow the sun thus increasing efficiency by 15%. After looking into this technology there are some potential pitfalls to floating on the ocean. Many argue that these islands are susceptible to storms, waves, corrosion, and simply getting dirty (ex. bird droppings). These could decrease the efficiency and effectiveness of the solar islands. While these are valid arguments that must be faced I still believe over time this technology has great potential. One of the ways that has been proposed to lessen the many potential pitfalls is simply to take this technology to the desert or any open spacious land. The producer of solar islands has created a land island that works in the same way. The first full scale solar island is currently being made in the United Arab Emirates so in the near future we will see how well this technology works.
A possible future of the solar island could include combining it with the sea-snake technology I mentioned in a previous post. This combination has been mentioned online by a few random comments but I have not found concrete evidence that this has been seriously considered. If solar islands work and the sea-snake work a potential combination could provide great amounts of energy and in half the space.
Here is a video made by the manufacturer of solar islands.
http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/floating-solar-island-concept/
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I agree with you that the concept of solar islands is quite amazing indeed. The problem for me is that I cannot fathom how much these creations would cost to create. Also, it would seem that the upkeep of the solar islands would be quite high for how many things can go wrong, and how clean I would imagine the panels have to be kept in order to be efficient. Are you aware of how much the United Arab Emirates is paying for this technology? And what is the actual size of the islands? Do you think that the amount of energy that would be created through this technology would be enough to cover the costs of production in a realistic amount of time?
ReplyDeleteYou raise some valid arguments in regards to the solar islands so I will venture to answer these. As you said the upkeep and cleaning is currently the greatest obstacle for the solar islands. The concept is rather simple but to maximize production you will want these panels to be clean and this is where most faults are being found. However, there are robotic vehicles that automatically drive themselves up and down the rows of solar panels cleaning them. This is very effective but must be done often. The islands can be made in any size dependent upon where they are going to be utilized but a standard size is about 5km diameter. The actual energy itself will be highly beneficial because mass amounts can be produced with zero emissions and it is expected to be 5 times cheaper than current electricity. This implies it will be more cost effective than current productions and from what I have seen online the United Arab Emirates has paid about 5 million dollars for the first solar island.
ReplyDeleteGood read! thanks for sharing.
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