Solar panels can help reduce energy consumption, decrease carbon footprint, and assist you in addressing climate change. Solar power generation systems achieve all of these goals by utilizing solar energy, the most abundant form of energy.

Due to the wide range of applications and the huge space for installing solar panels, the demand has surged, and investment in this field has also increased accordingly. This is just one of the reasons why there are so many types of solutions for solar energy systems.

01 Agricultural Photovoltaic

Agricultural photovoltaic technology aims to solve this problem. In agricultural photovoltaic devices, a special type of solar panel is placed on a pillar above the plant.

The spacing between solar panels is relatively large, and the structure of solar panels themselves is transparent – usually made of glass or sturdy plastic materials. In this way, the solar panel acts as a shading cloth – providing partial shade for the plants below and helping to promote plant growth.

Meanwhile, solar panels are also used for power generation, making the system more sustainable. This is a great example of how a combined heat and power system (biomass energy+solar energy) can bring benefits to two production areas – plants can produce more biomass due to reduced sunlight, reduced evaporation, and extended photosynthesis time.

On the other hand, solar panels are more efficient because they are cooled by the cold air below. Meanwhile, solar panels provide farmers with an additional source of income, increasing their resilience and reducing their dependence on the market.

02 Panel Coating

The panel coating can increase the power generation efficiency of solar panels by up to 30%. This type of solar panel is covered with a layer of hexagonal (honeycomb like frame) lenses, which can focus sunlight on specific locations on the silicon layer.

This is a huge progress, as the efficiency of most solar panels so far has reached as high as 22%. Due to the low manufacturing cost of lenses, this small step helps to reduce installation costs. They can also help reduce the area required for installing solar panels, making more households suitable for installing solar equipment.

03 Heterojunction Technology [HJT]

Heterojunction technology largely relies on the concept of bifocal (sometimes referred to as double-sided) solar panels. The energy generation of these solar panels largely relies on standard solar panels.

However, solar cells in solar photovoltaic modules like this are coated with a thin film of silicon, which should help improve the performance of the system. These layers increase the efficiency of solar panels by 3%, resulting in a renewable energy conversion rate of up to 25%.

04 Floating Solar Power Plant

Floating solar power plants are another innovation in solar power generation and collection. This type of solar power plant has multiple advantages and is a good example of transforming a single power generation or storage system into a combined heat and power system. In such a system, the solar power plant is installed on special floating bearings and then placed on a large surface of water.

These floating solar power plants can be placed above fishing grounds, irrigation canals, water storage lakes, or reservoirs. This system has multiple benefits:

The solar panel enjoys the cooling effect of the water below, providing up to 10% renewable electricity. The water below the floating solar panel maintains a lower temperature for a longer period of time, providing better thermal stability for the livestock and reducing water evaporation.

Then, all excess water can be saved for increasing hydroelectric power generation capacity and even for irrigating larger areas. Livestock can also enjoy higher thermal stability throughout the day or even year, and their size and number may increase. The system installed on the reservoir can also reduce the cost of laying wires for it, as it can use wires already used for hydroelectric power generation capacity.

In such a system, installation costs can also be significantly saved as all load-bearing structures can be prefabricated and transported to the site. These structures are flexible, made of inexpensive materials such as plastic (recyclable), inexpensive, and highly adaptable to any system. Water can also flush panels, and the absence of trees and buildings makes the system very efficient and reduces (partially) shading issues.

05 Building Integrated Photovoltaic

Another important step in the development of solar energy technology and the utilization of renewable energy is the integration of building photovoltaics. In such buildings, solar panels are integrated into the building itself and can replace parts of the roof structure, walls, and even windows.

This type of building can be constructed more affordably because the cost of building and then adding solar panels to it is higher than the cost of replacing part of the structure with the solar panels themselves.