The range of effects could extend from highly desirable outcomes, such as reduced evaporative water losses and reduced occurrence of cyanobacterial blooms, to detrimental effects such as deep water anoxia causing release of nutrients and contaminates from the bed sediments. Moreover, there could be significant perturbation to carbon cycling with positive or negative implications for the true carbon intensity of the electricity produced and thus the decarbonisation attraction of this emerging source of low carbon energy generation.
Whilst some outcomes are likely to be ubiquitous across water bodies, for example, reduced evaporation, others will be highly dependent upon water body characteristics, for example algae response. Floatovoltaic system design could be innovated to alter the disturbance to the water body, with the potential to promote benefits and minimise detrimental effects. Understanding the full suite effects for a particular water body and floatovoltaic design is essential to ensure well informed decisions that do not trade low carbon electricity generation for local scale ecosystem harm.