Solar power plants on slopes extended by flood walls and water storage are the world’s cheapest form of flood prevention. With this new form of solar power plants we fight the flood problem where it arises. Please find attached our presentation and the film.
http://irrigationnets.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Flood-Prevention-Photovoltaics-1.pdf
This rainfall-flow calculation shows a south-facing slope with a grass surface.
During heavy rainfall, a large amount of water collects here and a wide stream of water, which is only 1 cm to 5 cm high, flows downwards.
The water collects in one place and swells into a torrent, first 20 cm high and later even 1 m high, which then already has considerable destructive power. Moreover, such streams merge with other rivers and thus create real flood waves. We can effectively and economically avoid this one stream with only 5 rows of solar plants and reduce it to a small, relatively uncritical trickle.
With just a small solar system on the field, which is about 2.5 metres in size, the water level can be lowered by about 20%. With a few more solar systems, even a reduction of 50% is possible.
Due to the flood protection wall and the collection basins, which we have placed centrally under the solar plants, we can retain a very large amount of water for a very long time.
The water is only used in a controlled way and when needed and cannot soak the slope and thus destabilise it. Muddying of the basins is minimal as the water is collected at regular intervals before it has gained speed and thus mud.
Farming is still possible between the rows, which are up to 50 m apart from each other. In addition, a higher yield can be expected on the remaining area due to the wind protection and better water supply.
School internship
Originally, we wanted to implement the following principle experiment on erosion on a slope with the help of a school practical. Unfortunately, the practical course was not approved! It is all the more admirable that our (just not practical) student carried out the experiment for us on her own initiative in a highly professional manner.
The left picture shows the construction of the rainwater retention basins as well as the “zigzag bands”, which replace the root system in the mound on both sides in the trial and provide basic soil stability. The picture in the middle shows the trial with the simulation of a heavy rainfall of over 200 litres/m2 on a (left) normal slope and (right) on a slope with our flood protection solar systems. Since the amount of rain was far above the capacity of the rainwater retention basins, both catchment basins (top right) were indeed filled with water. However, as expected, considerably less of the applied humus ended up in the right-hand basin. (see bottom right)
The principle experiment was therefore a complete success and shows the great potential of slope separation for erosion prevention.
