Floating Solar Panels Turn Old Industrial Sites Into Green Energy Goldmines

Coal pits, stone quarries and hydropower lagoons are becoming hot real estate as European countries seek out new sites for solar panels

Austria’s first floating power plant, operated by Baywa r.e, in Grafenwoerth, Austria, on April 26.

Putting solar panels on water to generate power sounded like a dangerous gimmick to Benedikt Ortmann when he first heard about the idea.

“Every child knows electricity and water don’t mix,” said Ortmann, the top solar executive at Munich’s Baywa r.e., one of Europe’s biggest renewable energy developers.