World’s first floating solar power plant built in Korea

Solkiss, a photovoltaic energy company, will complete the world’s first floating, rotating solar voltaic power plant with a capacity of 465 kilowatts on Geumgwang reservoir in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, with Korea Rural Community Corporation next Monday.

About 1,600 solar voltaic modules are installed on an octagon floating deck of 7,500 square meters. The power plant`s capacity of 465 kilowatts can supply 250 households with electricity at the same time.

A floating and rotating system combines the advantages of a ground-mounted fixed system and a ground-mounted rotating system. As a ground-mounted fixed system installs modules on the ground in the direction of south, it is not efficient in the mornings and evenings when the sun is tilted.

A ground-mounted rotating system under which modules follow the sun is efficient but modules cannot be installed densely due to long shadows in the mornings and evenings. Meanwhile, a floating rotating system with fixed modules can maximize efficiency because the floating deck can move in the direction of the sun, the energy company says.

“Solar cells on the ground show high efficiency in low temperatures but the efficiency is offset by the heat coming from the ground. However, the temperatures of modules decrease on water as water evaporates,” Solkiss CEO Woo Do-young said. “A floating rotating system is 22 percent more efficient than a ground-mounted fixed system. We selected a safe method so that the installation can stand the wind of 50 meters per second and changes in water levels.”