The largest floating solar farm in the world

The largest farm floating solar power plant in the world has come online this March. It is located on the Queen Elizabeth II water reservoir, near London’s Heathrow airport, and its 23,000 solar panels cover an area equivalent to eight football fields (6% of the reservoir). The floating orchard, which had been in planning for five years and has required an investment of six million pounds (7.6 million euros), will provide energy to the water treatment plants served by the reservoir, for the next decades . The energy generated will help bring water to the homes of nearly ten million people in London.

The promoters of the project ensure that the installation will not have harmful effects on the biofauna, and also point out that, being over water, the panels and wiring work optimally due to the tempering effect of the liquid element.

London won’t hold the record for the world’s largest solar farm for long: a similar facility, but twice the area, is under construction in Japan, scheduled for completion in 2018.