3,000

floating solar planels

The first grid-connected floating photovoltaic solar plant in Spain

This initiative is a demonstration project created with the aim of studying the most suitable technical solutions for the installation of solar panels on lakes and reservoirs.

The installation is located close to the southern shore of the Sierra Brava reservoir, located in Zorita (Cáceres). Designed to cover around 12,000 m2, the floating solar plant occupy around 0.07 % of the reservoir’s surface area.

 

The installation will consist of five adjacent floating systems. Each system will have 600 photovoltaic panels with an estimated total capacity of 1.125-megawatt peak (MWp).

The Sierra Brava floating PV plant will study different solar module technologies and configurations in terms of inclination, placing and orientation -among other parameters- together with a variety of flotation structures.

The project include environmental measures such as the installation of signage on the natural resources in the area around the reservoir, the installation of marker buoys to mark out the regulatory navigable areas, and the provision of nesting boxes and floating islands to encourage the nesting of certain bird species.

Environmental monitoring will be an important aspect, particularly on birdlife in the area, with the dual aim of protecting birds and studying their interaction with this kind of installation.

GENERAL INFORMATION

  • Location: Zorita y Alcollarín, Cáceres (España)
  • Total peak capacity: 1,125 MWp
  • Technology: Floating photovoltaic
  • Start-up: 2020
  • Ownership: ACCIONA

KEY POINTS

  • First grid-connected floating photovoltaic solar plant in Spain
  • Total capacity: 1.125 MWp
  • Clean energy equivalent to consumption of 1.000 households
  • It covers 12.000 m2, occupying around 0.07 % os the Sierra Brava reservoir
  • 3,000 floatinf photovoltaic modules
  • 5 different solar panel technologies and flotation structures
  • The project receives funding from the Spanish Centre for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI)

Key figures

1.125

megawatts of peak power

1,000

equivalent households

3,000

photovoltaic panels

3,800

tons of CO2 into the atmosphere avoided

0.07 %

percentage of reservoir occupied

5

different technologies

Experience | ACCIONA

Solar panels on the water

We are used to seeing solar panels on the roofs of houses or on large expanses of land, but not on reservoirs.

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