India’s Largest Floating Solar Plant

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

India’s largest floating solar plant is now fully operational at Ramagundam in Telangana’s Peddapalli district.

• The 100-megawatt (MW) floating solar power photovoltaic project was commissioned by the National Thermal Power Corporation.
• As of July 1, following the commissioning of the plant, the total commercial operation of floating solar capacity in the southern region has risen to 217 MW.

What are floating solar plants?

• Solar plants or solar farms can be either ground-mounted or set up on the surface of waterbodies.
• Floating farms are a bit more expensive than the traditional ones mounted on land surfaces, there are many advantages of floating farms
• Floating farms do not require land to be acquired for the installation of photovoltaic panels.
• They are more efficient as the presence of water underneath helps them keep cool.
• They also reduce water evaporation, thereby saving more water for hydropower generation.

How are these panels kept floating?

• The solar modules are placed on floaters manufactured with high-density polyethene material that keeps floating irrespective of water-level fluctuations.
• The entire spread is divided into blocks, each of these blocks consists of a floating platform and an array of solar modules.
• The floating platform consists of an inverter, transformer, and a high-tension circuit breaker.