| Porthole 25 May 21

ALTHOUGH electricity and water don’t usually mix, floating solar farms could cool down lakes threatened by climate change, according to research published in the International Solar Energy Society’s Solar Energy journal.

A growing number of floating solar farms are being deployed worldwide on lakes and reservoirs might sound like an accident waiting to happen, but recent studies have shown the technology generates more electricity compared with rooftop or ground-mounted solar installations, The Conversation reports.

This is thanks to the cooling effect of the water beneath the panels, which can boost how efficiently these systems generate electricity by as much as 12.5%; it is a positive sign, with climate change having raised the temperature of lakes globally by 0.34 per decade since 1985.