Blog #3: Aquate Introduces Solar Reservoir Covers

     Faced with a task of trying to preserve water and reduce salinity due to evaporation, Israeli company Aquate has a plan.  The practice involves the use of reservoir covers to keep out sun's rays which causes evaporation and higher salinity levels.  This water is used for agricultural purposes, so high salinity would damage the soils and crops.  The game changing idea here is the idea to make solar reservoir covers and essentially "kill two birds with one stone."  The pairing of the covers and solar panels works quite well.  The water from the reservoir stays cool and in turn prevents the photo voltaic cells from heat exposure which reduces efficiency.  The coupling of these concepts also makes the system more efficient in regards to maintenance. 

     I find this idea quite fascinating.  It leads me to question what other possibilities there are in coupling more than one concept together.  For example, what if wind turbines also employed solar panels in some way, perhaps lining one side of the support post?  That would increase the energy efficiency and also minimize the space necessary in a geographic sense.  One thing that Aquate does in its use of water preservation is that they analyze each case individually and approach it using the best available technology.  They consider efficiency, maintenance, benefits, and consequences before implementing a project.  In regards to alternative energy, this article made me think that couplings like the one described are the way the global community should move forward.  We shouldn't just think of energy in terms of power plants and solar fields.  We should consider the best available technology with all projects.  This would cause the cost of turning to alternative energy to be spread out instead of a single solid investment, which might make politicians less wary of the change (MIGHT).  Not only would it be beneficial to invest in projects like the solar reservoir covers for it's benefits of efficiency, but using a structure for more than one purpose is more likely to be cheaper than two separate structures.  I am intrigued by this idea and will be looking for similar stories in the future.


http://blog.cleantechies.com/2012/02/02/putting-every-inch-to-use-for-energy-creation-%E2%80%93-aquate-introduces-solar-reservoir-covers/