floating PV

Thailand’s Electricity Generating Authority has opened a tender for the design, supply, construction and commissioning of a floating solar array to be built at a dam with an existing hydroelectric power station.

NKS Solar One says it has requested regulatory approval to build and operate a 250 MW floating solar array near Manila and to connect it to the national grid in the Philippines.

New research from Switzerland showed that alpine floating PV systems can outperform lowland or ground-mounted counterparts in terms of energy yield and sustainability. The scientists found that the main material-reduction potential of such floating PV installations lies in the resource-intensive mounting system.

South Korea’s Shinsung E&G says it will supply 47 MW of modules for the country’s first integrated renewable energy complex. It also recently signed an agreement to expand the deployment of rooftop solar in South Korea.

The Portugal-based company has developed a metal oxides removal agent product for PV installations located near foundries, steelworks and metal ore mines.

Researchers in China have developed a floating structure for offshore PV that reportedly offers improved stability and dynamic responses compared to conventional semi-submerged floating designs. The floating structure consists of pontoon-truss platform composed of four pontoons and a steel truss connected by soft ropes.

The 1 MWp pre-commercial demonstrator from the French company SolarinBlue will be deployed off the coast of Sète, 2 kilometers from the Mediterranean coast, and will supply the infrastructure of the port of Sète-Frontignan. The floats are designed to withstand waves of more than 10 meters and winds of 200 km/h.

The Itaipu hydroelectric power plant could almost double its generation capacity if it were to install a large floating solar plant that would occupy only 10% of its 1,350-square-kilometer reservoir area, according to an estimate released by the energy consulting and analysis firm PSR. The installation of floating PV could be an alternative to the repowering of power plants, although it faces regulatory and operational constraints.

Academics have used geospatial land-eligibility research and existing legislation to identify the potential for up to 4.7 GW of floating PV, 24.6 GW of solar parking, and 5,437 GW of agrivoltaics in Germany.

A UK-based research team has calculated the global potential of deploying floating solar arrays on almost 68,000 lakes and reservoirs. It found some countries could generate the majority of their electricity needs from floating solar panels, while five could meet all their electricity demand.