Photo courtesy of Audrey Stasko
Floating amongst the waves of a retention pond lies what Duke Energy hopes to be one of many new pilot programs aiming towards a greener future: a floating solar farm.
The Duke Energy facility in Bartow, about 90 minutes inland from Gulfport, hosts the floating solar panels. Here, the company tests the pilot projects of panels along with several other more sustainable sources of energy. Included in these pilot projects are innovative ways to store energy through battery technology and “green hydrogen” or hydrogen derived from non-fossil fuel sources, such as through electrolysis. This process splits water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The oxygen gets released into the atmosphere and hydrogen powers electronics and other forms of technology.
“It’s pretty equivalent to ground solar,” said Project Manager Shayna Fraleigh. “We can build [floating panels] pretty efficiently.”
Fraleigh oversaw the development and implementation of the floating solar panels from the project’s beginning in March.
The project finally reached completion in October of 2023. The panels are tied into the existing Duke Energy grid. These panels produce around one megawatt of energy and can power roughly 100 homes annually — when they operate at full capacity.
Duke Energy’s Floating Solar Farms
Photo courtesy of Audrey Stasko
Floating solar panels serve several benefits when it comes to their implementation at Duke’s power plant as well.
The water from the retention pond cools the panels, which makes them function smoother. Additionally, the large-scale implementation of the panels over areas of the retention pond helps limit eutrophication, or algae growth within the man-made pond.
Along with this, the panels help cap water loss through limiting evaporation. Currently, all water within the pond is captured from local areas and rainfall and funneled into the pond. This makes limiting evaporation anappealing by-product of floating solar panels.
The solar panels cover around two acres of the large pond. These larger benefits will not be felt just yet. However, Fraleigh said that if the pilot project is successful, Duke Energy would like to expand outward across larger areas of the retention pond. Duke Energy constructed the panels in modular sections, which would make expansion relatively easy. This would lead to more energy output and would add renewable energy benefits for Duke customers.
“We’re excited,” said Senior Communications Consultant Audrey Stasko. “It is just another example of how Duke is trying to get closer to cleaner energy.”
At its current size, local wildlife seems unaffected, according to Duke Energy. Duke officials state that they often see numerous birds and alligators using the floating panels as basking areas out over the water.
Photo courtesy of Audrey Stasko
A Greener Future
Stasko said these projects are the beginning of what Duke hopes is a variety of different scaleable energy installations. What she means by this is the installations can help supplement already existing energy reserves created through the use of natural gas.
“Duke is looking to meet the [energy] demands of today and to look to the future,” Stasko said.
Now, do not expect your entire household to run on only floating solar panels any time soon. However, as renewable energy becomes more and more advanced, scientists say that power grids will continue to advance with it. These power grids rely on combinations of different green energy sources instead of solely one or two sources of fossil fuels.
If you would like to become more involved with renewable energy under Duke, Staska says that there are multiple programs in Florida that help homeowners install solar on their roofs. Within Duke’s power grid, any access power caught from your panels can be sold back to Duke. This creates a “win-win” scenario for customers, Duke Energy, and the planet.
