United Kingdom: Europe’s biggest floating solar panel planned for London reservoir

Europe’s biggest floating solar panel array is being installed on London’s Queen Elizabeth II reservoir as part of Thames Water’s ambitious bid to self-generate a third of its own energy by 2020. Just over 23,000 solar photovoltaic (PV) panels will be floated on the reservoir near Walton-on-Thames, utilising a normally redundant suburban space on the surface, following an agreement between Thames Water, Ennoviga Solar and Lightsource Renewable Energy. The floating pontoon will cover around a tenth of the reservoir. The low-carbon, renewable energy produced will be used to help power the nearby water treatment works and lower customer bills. It will have a total installed peak capacity of 6.3 megawatts and is expected to generate 5.8 million kilowatt hours in its first year–equivalent to the annual consumption of around 1,800 homes.