Energy from solar and hydro power

Workers walk past rows of solar panels at the 2.3-megawatt floating solar power station operated by Kyocera TCL Solar LLC, a joint venture between Kyocera Corp. and Century Tokyo Leasing Corp., on Sakasamaike Pond in Kasai, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, on Sunday, May 24, 2015. The plant, with panels set up on a reservoir, is the worlds largest floating solar plant, Kyoto-based Kyocera said in a statement Monday. Photographer: Buddhika Weerasinghe/Bloomberg

I AM a mechanical engineer and in my over 30 years living in Malaysia, I have been involved with many Tenaga Nasional Bhd power projects. I was employed in TNB in the late 1980s and have since worked for other local companies and am currently a consultant for insurance surveys and accident investigations for power plants in the region.

The current focus is on using renewable energy for power generation to avoid the use of fossil fuels and reduce the carbon footprint of the power generation industry. The renewable energy plants are reliant on the foibles of nature and as such do not have a constant availability and so their use has to be designed to overcome these natural effects of no wind, no sun, etc. My following thoughts offer a potential solution to make the photo voltaic power plant a more practical, reliable form of renewable energy.