3 ms·

One of the solar farms is in a tidal flat. Are those solar panels meant to be waterproof? I’d imagine they may not last as long from sea salt exposure too.

vages 9mo ago
I would suspect they are floating on pontoons.
- Y-bar 9mo ago
  You can see the pillars they are built on in for example https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-13/china-s-shandong-to-build-massive-solar-farms-out-to-sea https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-13/china-s-s... (direct link to image: https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iy93Jvbye2e0/v1/-1x-1.jpg https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iy93Jvbye2e...) Solar panels are meant to be water proof, after all they are meant to survive rain storms and melting snow and coastal weather.
  - gs17 9mo ago
    "meant to survive rain storms" doesn't really mean the same as "meant to survive flooding", especially not "meant to survive flooding with salt water". For example, a car survives outdoor weather year-round, but you probably wouldn't want to buy one that was submerged in a flood zone. This plant seems to be floating, though, so they stay above water regardless.
    - Y-bar 9mo ago
      Do you have any specifics about the implementation that makes you say that the engineers have not considered this?
    - anon84873628 9mo ago
      Putting aside the salt water, you'll also just have lots of crud and debris on the panels if they get over topped, which then requires cleaning. Unless the rain in that area is strong and consistent enough. Seems like a weird location to me, but what do I know.
deleted 9mo ago
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ZeroGravitas 9mo ago
China has has Megawatt-scale floating PV at sea too.
happosai 9mo ago
Solar panels are waterproof (how else would they survive rain) as are insulated electric wires. The only challenge is connectors, and there are ways to make connectors submersible-safe. This is how floating solar is a thing.

vages 9mo ago

I would suspect they are floating on pontoons.

Y-bar 9mo ago
You can see the pillars they are built on in for example https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-13/china-s-shandong-to-build-massive-solar-farms-out-to-sea https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-13/china-s-s... (direct link to image: https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iy93Jvbye2e0/v1/-1x-1.jpg https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iy93Jvbye2e...) Solar panels are meant to be water proof, after all they are meant to survive rain storms and melting snow and coastal weather.
- gs17 9mo ago
  "meant to survive rain storms" doesn't really mean the same as "meant to survive flooding", especially not "meant to survive flooding with salt water". For example, a car survives outdoor weather year-round, but you probably wouldn't want to buy one that was submerged in a flood zone. This plant seems to be floating, though, so they stay above water regardless.
  - Y-bar 9mo ago
    Do you have any specifics about the implementation that makes you say that the engineers have not considered this?
  - anon84873628 9mo ago
    Putting aside the salt water, you'll also just have lots of crud and debris on the panels if they get over topped, which then requires cleaning. Unless the rain in that area is strong and consistent enough. Seems like a weird location to me, but what do I know.

deleted 9mo ago

[deleted]

ZeroGravitas 9mo ago

China has has Megawatt-scale floating PV at sea too.

happosai 9mo ago

Solar panels are waterproof (how else would they survive rain) as are insulated electric wires. The only challenge is connectors, and there are ways to make connectors submersible-safe. This is how floating solar is a thing.