Here are advantages of floating solar farms. One Floating solar farm could help protect lakes and reservoirs from the harmful effects of climate change.
 
Traditional solar farms are controversial because they take up so much land. This has led to the result that people are growing interest in floating solar farms. It takes advantage of the extra space provided by bodies of water.

So far, there are three commercial-scale floating solar arrays in the UK and there are hundreds of them around the world. The number of floating solar installations is likely to increase significantly in the coming decades as the demand for renewable energy rises. More countries commit to net zero carbon targets. However, few people know about the positive and negative effects of these floating solar farms on lakes and reservoirs until now.

Scientists from Lancaster University and Stirling University have completed the first detailed modelling of the impact of floating solar installations on the water environment.
 
"As the demand for land increases, water bodies are increasingly the target for renewable energy.” The deployment of solar energy above water increases the amount of electricity generated, but it is crucial to know whether there will be any positive or negative environmental consequences," said Dr Giles Exley, PhD researcher and lead author from Lancaster University. "Given the relative immaturity of floating solar farms, it is important to further scientifically demonstrate their impact. Our results provide initial insights into key impacts that will help inform decision-making by water body managers and policy makers."
 
The team used the MyLake simulation program and data collected by the UK's Centre for Ecology and Hydrology from Windermere, England's largest lake, for computer modeling. Although researchers believe that a floating solar farm on Lake Windermere is unlikely, it provides a rich data set because it is one of the most thoroughly studied lakes in the world.
 
Their results show that floating solar arrays can cool water temperatures by blocking out sunlight. On a scale, this helps mitigate the harmful effects of global warming, such as the proliferation of toxic blue-green algae and the increase of evaporation of water, which could threaten water supplies in some areas.
 
The scientists found that floating solar devices of solar pv solutions also reduced the duration of "stratification" - the formation of layers of water at different temperatures as the sun heats the water. This tends to happen during the warm summer months. It can lead to the bottom deoxygenation of water, which worsens water quality. It is an obvious problem for drinking water supplies. However, the picture is complex, and the adverse impact of man-made changes in stratification issues on water quality may be increased if floating solar farms are deployed in some conditions. Because floating solar's effect on water temperature and stratification is a major driver of biological and chemical processes. The impact could be comparable to the climate change of lakes. The planktonic solar energy could help mitigate the negative effects that global warming will have on these bodies of water. However, there is a real risk of adverse effects, such as the deoxygenation leading to undesirable increases in nutrient concentrations and killing of fish. More research needs to be done to understand the possibility of positive and negative effects.
 
The larger the solar installation, the greater the impact on water temperature. Small arrays less than 10 percent of the surface generally have the least impact. However, this model is currently focused on one lake, and further research is needed to determine the optimal array sizes and designs, as well as their impact on individual lakes and reservoirs. All of them have unique characteristics. Different designs of solar installations also have different shading and shading effects on the sun and wind.
 
The study found that arrays that cover more than 90 percent of the lake might increase the chances of the lake freezing in winter. However, these effects also vary by water body and device design and it requires further study.
 
Based on these preliminary findings, field studies and further modeling work are ongoing.