With land at a premium in Malta, a recent development in the utilisation of photovoltaic energy might be of interest.

The development concerns floating solar power plants. A typical example is the 465 kWp Sunflower solar power plant that can be found in South Korea.

The cooling effect of water, together with a simple tracking and rotating system, is leading to a system efficiency of up to 22 per cent for this 8,000 square metre prototype plant.

Other countries that face a scarcity of land, such as Japan and Singapore, are also piloting similar projects.