Canadians design bubbly floating solar for icy lakes | CBC Climate

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Canadians design bubbly floating solar for icy lakes Also: Could cities recycle heat produced by data centres? Welcome to our weekly newsletter where we highlight environmental trends and solutions that are moving us to a more sustainable world. Hi, it's Emily.

I've been interested in the idea of floating solar and disappointed that we never see it here in Canada. So I was excited to hear about Canadian researchers' new ice-resistant floating solar design. This week: - Canadians design bubbly floating solar for icy lakes - The Big Picture: Lot full of bikes - Could cities recycle heat produced by data centres?

Canadians design bubbly floating solar for icy lakes Solar panels that float on lakes, reservoirs and other bodies of water are growing in popularity around the world, from Japan to France to Paraguay. They can generate clean energy without taking up valuable space on land. Despite that, such "floatovoltaics" remain rare in Canada, although they have been tested.

A previous issue of this newsletter examined the reasons, including the challenges posed by northern winters. Koami Soulemane Hayibo, a postdoctoral researcher at Western University in London, Ont., said most floating solar installations around the world have been deployed in warmer climates. In Canada, he said, "your main challenge is going to be winter ice formation."

Hayibo and his colleagues designed a floating solar system intended to prevent ice from forming. They tested it on an artificial pond in southwestern Ontario and published their results in the