These Solar Panels Create Power on Ice

A Lithuanian firm will install solar panels on a lake at a hydroelectric plant as part of a renewable energy experiment that combines sun, water, and ice, the first of its kind in the Baltic region.

“As far as we know, there are some floating photovoltaic projects installed and operating on hydropower reservoirs globally, but operation in freezing conditions is quite a new idea,” says Rimgaudas Kalvaitis, chairman and chief executive of Ignitis Gamyba.

According to researchers, it makes sense to add floating solar to hydropower plants as the panels can tap into existing infrastructure and be linked to the power grid. Still, measures will have to be taken to avoid ice from blocking the panels, like the addition of flexible mooring lines. This novel test is part of Lithuania’s plan to raise its use of renewable energy to meet European Union goals under the 2015 Paris Agreement, but also to reduce its energy dependence on Russia. If the test is successful, the entire 300-hectare upper reservoir could be covered in solar panels, with the possibility of powering 120,000 households.