A new study suggests that covering 30% of U. reservoir area with floating panels could generate 1,900 terawatt-hours of energy and save 5. 5 trillion gallons of water annually from evaporation. A recent estimate of global reservoir evaporative losses found that annual water volume loss was equivalent to 70 percent of all global municipal water. . Floating photovoltaics (FPV) tool will help deploy more solar power generation systems on reservoirs. The United States has roughly 26,000 reservoirs of various sizes, totaling 25,000 square miles of water. The image on the right shows the reservoir, which spans more than 35. . Researchers suggest putting solar panels on water increases greenhouse emissions and may affect aquatic life, but experts think the idea is still worth pursuing The first floating solar project in the U., at Far Niente Winery in California, went online in 2008. [Credit: SolarWriter | WikiMedia. .
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