Recurso Suelo

In this section, the designed and developed EIAcloudGIS tool was used in site characterisa-tion mode to represent the planned floating solar geospatial layout. This tool mode involved the use of the basic CAD-type design functionality on the Google satellite map of the GIS tool to produce a floating solar system overlay. This was done by drawing the outlay of the proposed floating solar system as a series of geodesic polygon shapes (layout markers, areas and text labels). With these system layout designs completed, and the SketchUp polygon drawing of the floating solar design layout saved as .KML files, the experiments could proceed with the floating solar system simulations that emulate the operational be-haviour for the representations of the designed floating solar systems at the selected site.

This is demonstrated on the terrain map of Figure 4.3, which details the site of the floating solar system, the design layout and the geographical terrain model for the designed floating solar system at the first demonstration site on the EIAcloudGIS tool interface. The planned floating solar system for this particular site and irrigation dam, on the farm IF near Nelspruit (MP), has an effective solar exposure covering an area of 1,355 m²and is located 665 metres above sea level.

To provide the reader with some indication of the solar resource radiation spread and resource availability around the Nelspruit area, Figure 4.4 provides a snapshot of the Solar-GIS (2018) solar map for the siting of a floating solar system on the farm IF, near Nelspruit (MP). The radiation levels are favourable and point to an ideal site for harvesting solar radiation with an average annual sum around 1900 kWh/m².

As regards the second experimental site, the terrain map in Figure 4.5 shows the siting of the floating solar system, the design layout and the geographical terrain model for the system chosen on the farm BF, near Bonnievale (WC), on the EIAcloudGIS tool interface.

The planned floating solar installation for site BF covers an active solar exposure area of 1074 m², and is located at an altitude of 213 metres above sea level.

Figure 4.6 provides a snapshot of the SolarGIS (2018) solar map for the siting of a floating solar system on the farm BF, near Bonnievale (WC), in order to indicate the spread and availability of solar resource radiation around the Bonnievale area. There is evidence of a lucrative source of solar energy since the harvesting potential of around 1900 kWh/m² in terms of average annual sum, is extremely good.

The terrain map in Figure 4.7 details the site of the floating solar system, the design layout and the geographical terrain model for the farm RC, near Kakamas (NC) on the EIAcloudGIS tool interface. The irrigation dam selected for the possible installation of a

Figure 4.3: EIAcloudGIS tool interface, showing the siting of a floating solar system, the design layout and the satellite image for the farm IF near Nelspruit (MP).

Figure 4.4: Solar map for the siting of a floating solar system on the farm IF, near Nelspruit (MP) (SolarGIS, 2018).

floating solar system at RC covers an active solar exposure area of 842 m², and is located at an altitude of 650 metres above sea level.

Figure 4.8 provides a snapshot of the SolarGIS (2018) Solar Map for the siting of a float-ing solar system on the farm RC, near Kakamas (NC), once again to provide the reader with an indication of the spread and availability of solar resource radiation around the Kakamas area. This area in the Northern Cape experiences an above average annual sum total of solar radiation at around 2240 kWh/². The availability of solar energy in this region is excellent and provides an exceptional harvesting potential all year round.

With the sites for each of the three provincial regions in South Africa chosen, the ex-perimental section will now demonstrate the EIAcloudGIS’s operational performance for

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Figure 4.5: EIAcloudGIS tool interface, showing the siting of a floating solar system, the design layout and the satellite image for the farm BF, near Bonnievale (WC).

Figure 4.6: Solar map for the siting of a floating solar system on the farm BF, near Bon-nievale (WC) (SolarGIS, 2018).

this geographical spread of sampling points. With the selected range of farming sites, the experiments in the next section are well placed to ensure an effective spatio-temporal con-text for floating solar variations. This approach means that the experimental predictions for the floating solar power outputs and environmental impacts will be successful in quan-tifying anticipated levels of variation on account of the diverse variations in terms of solar irradiation, climatic, temperature and other site-specific conditions. The newly-developed geographical-toolset EIAcloudGIS was used to calculate and illustrate the energy yield and environmental characterisation results for each site and to graphically present these results.

This matter is discussed in the next section.

Figure 4.7: EIAcloudGIS tool interface, showing the site location of a floating solar system, the design layout and the satellite image for the farm RC, near Kakamas (NC).

Figure 4.8: Solar map for the siting of a floating solar system for farms around the site RC, near Kakamas (NC) (SolarGIS, 2018).