floating PV

The new floating PV structure removes traditional maintenance walkways between module rows to enable more solar modules to be installed per hectare. Ciel & Terre has also developed a motorized trolley system capable of rolling over the structure.

An international team of researchers completed a preliminary techno-economic study on the global potential for offshore floating PV (OFPV). The results provide project cost benchmarking, country-specific economic assumptions, and a global assessement of offshore solar’s levelized cost of electricity (LCOE).

Naturgy and BlueNewables are developing a 1 MW floating solar installation off Spain’s Mediterranean coast, with two 500 kW units designed for open-sea operation and scheduled to begin testing in 2026.

A team of researchers in Canada has developed the Jericho Open Resistive Data Logger—an open-access photovoltaic (PV) monitoring platform that integrates data acquisition and processing hardware, a software framework, and a comprehensive sensor array. Designed primarily for agrivoltaic applications, the system has a total estimated cost of around $2,000.

Project contractor United Renewable Energy Engineering says 10 MW of the 192 MW site was preventatively shut down during the incident, which around 30 meters of cable line being damaged. The fire was brought under control within an hour, with the company anticipating no lasting damage to the surrounding area.

Scientists in the United Kingdom have developed a new web-inspired concept for floating PV farms, modeled after spider webs. The system is said to be particularly suitable for spiral and radial configurations, as well as for deployment between offshore wind farms.

The new Fusio floating structure features a triangular design and is said to be particularly suited to markets such as India and Southeast Asia. Tilt angles can be configured at either 5° or 12°.

Sinn Power has deployed a 1.8 MW vertical solar array on a quarry lake in the Bavarian municipality of Gilching. The company highlights the ecological benefits of the vertical system configuration and, perhaps surprisingly, its high resistance to storms.

Portugal-based Chemitek Solar is developing biodegradable cleaning and anti-soiling products for PV panels that share land use with agricultural production.

Researchers have tested a 9 x 11 floating box array for offshore photovoltaics in a large wave flume, under regular and irregular wave sequences. They have placed wireless gyroscopes on three of the boxes, representing the front, middle, and rear positions.