Thailand has launched a massive project to promote the use of renewable energy by building the world's biggest network of floating solar farms. The ambitious project will see thousands of solar panels placed on water at reservoirs, CGTN's Martin Lowe explains.

Taking heat from the sun to produce electricity seems like a dream solution. But solar panels take up vast areas of land, which has been a major disadvantage. Now a new approach is being pioneered - sitting them on water. Engineers say it saves valuable space – and the water's cooling effect makes solar cells more efficient and longer lasting. These two factors convinced Thailand's state electricity authority to draw up ambitious plans to construct 16 floating solar farms at nine hydropower reservoirs, making a major contribution to future power needs. Research is taking place at this test-bed at Rayong, 170 kilometers from the capital Bangkok.

SURACHA UDOMSAK CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, SCG CHEMICALS "In Thailand, we have a strong commitment to the CO2 issue, using more renewable energy is government policy, and to put a massive solar farm on fertile land for agriculture or industry doesn't make sense – but by having a lot of standing water like a reservoir that you can manage, I think it's a win-win situation."

The designers say constructing solar farms at existing hydro schemes will double electricity production; when conditions limit solar generation, hydropower can take over.

MARTIN LOWE RAYONG, THAILAND "Thailand currently produces around 12 percent of its energy from renewable sources. But it plans to increase that to 37 percent, more than a third of total capacity, within 20 years with floating solar making a substantial contribution."

Thailand will begin by building a 63-million US dollars solar farm at the Sirindhorn Dam in Ubon Ratchathani. The full network is scheduled to be constructed over the next two decades. Eight of the planned solar farms will each be bigger than the world's current largest, at a collapsed coal mine in China. Meanwhile, the island state of Singapore – where land is extremely limited - is developing a floating solar system in the sea off its coast. Elsewhere in Asia: China, India, Japan and South Korea are among those pursuing floating solar technology. Martin Lowe, CGTN, Rayong, Thailand.