Three floating, concentrated solar power (CSP) plants are being built in Lake Neuchâtel, Switzerland. The unique solar power systems are intended to function as laboratories, demonstrating CSP technologies and to see if the technology can be applied to typical photovoltaic solar panels.
CSP plants concentrate sunlight onto boilers to produce steam, which drives steam turbines. The plants rotate 220 degrees in the water to capture as much sunlight as possible throughout the day. The video below, provided by csem.ch, gives a thorough description of the technology:
Each island 25 meters in diameter, is covered in 100 photovoltaic panels, and they are being built 150 meters from the shore of Lake Neuchâtel. They are built by a Swiss energy company, Viteos SA, and developer Nolaris and are scheduled for completion in August 2013. The islands are expected to work for 25 years and then all parts are recyclable.
More information on the solar islands can be found here.