We first encountered Eco Wave Power back in 2012 when the company began testing a novel wave energy harvesting system that turned the rise and fall of coastal waters into electricity. The system went from the lab to the real world in 2016, and a second grid-connected projectwas announced for Jaffa Port in Israel earlier this year. Now EWP is looking to get more from its energy harvesters by adding solar.
EWP says that its latest venture came about after clients showed interest in having a number of different renewable energy sources as part of their energy mix. Solar or wind farms could be an option, but not every location has enough space available for such things. The Swedish company could have suggested putting solar panels atop the wave energy system’s land-based power station, but it might not always be located outside (as is the case in Gibraltar) and there may be limited roof space available if it is.
Instead, EWP opted to try and make use of the upper surface of its floaters – which are installed on existing structures like breakwaters and piers – the idea being that energy could then be harvested from both solar and wave sources.
Potential system advantages are reported to include more electricity generation without increasing the system size, no additional costs associated with land purchase for solar installation, and less energy loss from heat as a result of a cooling effect on the panels from the surrounding water.
The company has applied for a new international patent and an Israeli patent this week, and has also started initial testing of the combined energy harvesting setup. If these limited tests prove successful, solar panels will be fitted to all of the floaters on the EWP station at Jaffa Port, ahead of possible installation at the Gibraltar site.
Eco Wave Power starts testing combined wave/solar power system [New Atlas]