The global evolution of floating solar PV

Full text

Nguyen Dang Anh Thi
THE EVOLUTION
OF FLOATING SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAICS
July 16, 2017

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Contents
1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 3
2. TECHNOLOGY ANALYSIS ................................................................................................ 3
2.1. Solar PV applications ....................................................................................................................3
2.2. Floating solar PV technology description ..................................................................................7
2.2. Technology advantages ............................................................................................................ 10
2.3. Technology disadvantages ....................................................................................................... 12
3. MARKET ANALYSIS.......................................................................................................... 13
3.1. Development history .................................................................................................................. 13
3.2. Key drivers of global solar PV applications ............................................................................ 18
3.3. Global market potential of floating solar PV ........................................................................... 20
3.4. Key players in the floating PV market ..................................................................................... 22
CONCLUSIONS.......................................................................................................................... 25
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................ 26
Figure 1: Typical solar PV applications
Figure 2. Layout of a typical floating PV system
Figure 3. A floating PV structure product by Sumitomo Mitsui
Figure 4. Temperature dependent I-V curve
Figure 5: Global solar PV installation as of 2016
Figure 6: Global floating PV installation as of 2016
Figure 7: Turnkey PV price, historical and projection
Figure 8: Current efficiencies of commercial PV modules
Figure 9: Global floating panel market potential
Figure 10: Japan floating solar panels market revenue, by product, 2014 – 2025
Figure 11: Global floating solar panels market, by region, 2015 (%)
Figure 12: Typical installations of floating PV by Ciel & Terre
Figure 13: Global installation of floating PV by Ciel & Terre
(Cover photo: Sumitomo Mitsui Construction)

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1. INTRODUCTION
Solar energy is classified as a clean and renewable alternative to fossil fuels. With the
strong commitments of the national governments around the world toward greenhouse
gases (GHG) reduction, solar Photovoltaics (PV) is chosen to play its leading role as a
clean technology solution to reduce the GHG emissions in the power sector.
In many countries, land recourses are limited for large scale ground-mounted solar PV
systems. In addition, rooftop areas in housing, commercial and industrial buildings may
not be essential for rooftop solar solution. In this context, floating solar PV systems are
the acceptable ecological alternative solutions. Floating solar photovoltaics is now also
known as “floatovoltaics”.
By covering a significant surface area on a body of water, the floatovoltaics system
conserves water by reducing evaporation, while the shading from its panels limits algae
growth. The system presents no risks or dangers to wildlife and surrounding habitats
when implemented. More importantly, the natural cooling effect provided by the water
allows the PV panels to operate more efficiently and produce more power than traditional
ground-mounted systems.
This paper analyzes recent development of floating solar PV technology, examines the
global trend and potential future application of the technology.
2. TECHNOLOGY ANALYSIS
2.1. Solar PV applications
According to Alok Sahu et al [1], there are five typical solar photovoltaic (PV) applications
which are ground-mounted, roof-top, canal-top, offshore and floating. Photo illustrations
of these applications are introduced in the Figure 1.

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Figure 1: Typical solar PV applications
(1). Ground-mounted/conventional land based solar system
Ground-mounted PV systems are generally large, utility-scale solar power plants. Their
solar modules are held in place by racks or frames that are attached to ground based
mounting supports. Ground based mounting supports include:
● Pole mounts, which are single-minded directly into the ground or fixed in concrete.
● Foundation mounts, such as concrete slabs or poured footings.
● Ballasted footing mounts, such as steel bases or concrete that use weight to
secure the solar module system in position and do not have need of ground penetration.
This type of mounting system is well suited for sites where dig is not possible such as
capped landfills and it simplifies decommissioning or relocation of solar module systems.
(2). Roof top solar system
A rooftop solar PV system is a system that has its electricity generating solar panels
mounted on the rooftop of a residential or commercial building or structure. The various
components of such a system include photovoltaic modules, mounting systems, cables,
solar inverters and other electrical accessories. A rooftop PV power station (either on-grid
or off-grid) can be used in con junction with other power sources like diesel generators,

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wind turbine etc. This system is capable of providing a continuous source of power.
Rooftop mounted systems are small compared to ground-mounted PV power stations
with capacities in the megawatt range. Rooftop PV systems on residential buildings
typically feature a capacity of about 5-20 kW, while those mounted on commercial
buildings often reach 100 kW or more.
(3). Canal top solar system
Conventionally Solar Plants are set up on ground requiring massive amount of land area.
To avoid acquisition of large area of land, the new concept of setting Solar PV plant on
Canal was conceived. By eliminating the use of land, not only deforestation is avoided
but reforestation is encouraged through landscaping.
(4). Offshore solar PV system
Oceans cover more than 70% of the earth's surface; they receive a great amount of solar
energy. The available solar resource could be exploited to counteract the current
generation of electricity using solar PV technology. Due to the land scarcity onshore, the
offshore environment which takes full advantage of sun rays during the day is an ideal
option for setting up PV plants. Since one of the key components in PV panels is
Cadmium Chloride, which is extremely toxic and expensive, it affects both the
manufacturing process and the price of solar panels. The seawater contains Magnesium
Chloride, which could replace the highly toxic and expensive Cadmium Chloride.
(5). Floating solar PV system
Floating PV system is a newly development technology. There are many places around
the world that do not have enough land for PV installations, mainly islands such as Japan,
Korea, Singapore, Philippines and many others.
A comparative advantage and disadvantages of the various solar PV installations are
listed in Table 1.

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Applications
Advantages
Disadvantages
Ground-
mounted
• Suitable for small and large-
scale systems.
• Convenient in operation and
maintenance.
• Limited land resources in urban
areas.
• Solid foundations and stable
structure required to protect from
storms and high winds.
• Longer construction time needed
for civil works.
Rooftop
• Space optimization by
utilization of rooftop areas.
• Increases the lifetime value
of covered roof.
• Easier and faster to install
than ground-mounted
systems.
• May have shading losses due to
structure obstacles
• Roof may not properly fit to the
required system capacity.
Canal
• Land conservation.
• Save canal water from
evaporation.
• Higher module efficiency
compared to land based
systems due to water cooling
effect by evaporation
• Lack of availability of canals.
• Complicated and lengthy
structures to accommodate
modules.
• Difficult for maintenance.
• Panels, structure etc. may lead to
contamination issues of fresh
water.
Offshore
• Reduce the land dependence
• Higher module efficiency
compared to land based
• Erosion of PV panel cause by sea
water may require higher panel
cost.

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Applications
Advantages
Disadvantages
systems due to water cooling
effect by evaporation
• Almost no shading effect
• High maintenance cost required.
Floating
• Land conservation
• Reduction of water
evaporation
• Improved water quality by
reducing photosynthesis and
algae growth.
• Potential erosion of PV
components
• Obstruction to fishing and
transportation activities
Source: Alok Sahu, Neha Yadav, K. Sudhakar (2016)
2.2. Floating solar PV technology description
A floating solar PV system consists of four components that are the floating system,
mooring system, underwater cables and the PV system.
(1). Floating System: A floating body, including structure and floater, that allows the
installation of the PV module.
(2). Mooring System: Can adjust to water level fluctuations while maintaining its position
in a southward direction
(3). Underwater Cable: Transfers the generated power from land to the PV system.
(4). PV System: PV generation equipment, that are PV modules installed on top of the
floating system, inverter, controller, substation and distribution line.
The layout of a typical floating PV system is introduced in Figure 2.

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Figure 2. Layout of a typical floating PV system (Source: Young-Kwan Choi, Ph.D. [2])
Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co., Ltd, a company from Japan has commercialized a
floating PV structure product as illustrated in Figure 8 [3].
Figure 3. A floating PV structure product by Sumitomo Mitsui

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This structure allows quick installation and easy expansion with the following features.
1. Floats: The float is a buoyant body that
rests above the water and also acts as a
solar panel installation base. It also
includes components for the fixing of
mooring cables.
2. Upright Stands: When mounted to the
float, this acts as a base component that
produces an angle of inclination for the
solar panels.
3. Bridges: The bridge is a component
that connects floats to one another and
serves as a foothold during construction
and maintenance.
4. Binding Bands: The binding band
fixes floats together. Two varieties are
available to match the wind pressure
load.
5. Anchor Bolts: These bolts anchor the
solar panel brackets to the floats.
6. Solar Panel Brackets: The fixing
brackets are fixed with float bolts and act
as a support fitting to fix the solar panels
in place.

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Source: Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co., Ltd
Floating solar PV system could be installed on various fresh water bodies such as lakes,
ponds, dams, reservoirs, fish farms, canals etc. therefore this technology could be
integrated with other facilities such as hydro power, irrigation, thermal power, water
treatment…
2.2. Technology advantages
The most important parameter considered for the performance evaluation of the floating
solar PV is the module effective conversion efficiency in operative conditions, which
affects the electricity generation and thus the most valuable product of the component.
The conversion efficiency of a PV module is given by the ratio between the generated
electrical power and the incident solar radiation intensity, according to the following
expression:
ηel =Pmax
S x Apv 𝑥 100%
where η el is the electrical efficiency (%), Pmax is the power generated by PV module (W),
S is the solar radiation intensity incident on the PV module (W/m2) and Apv is the front PV
module surface exposed to the solar radiation intensity (m2) [1].
A typical PV module converts 4-18% of the incident solar energy into electricity,
depending upon the type of solar cells and climatic conditions [1]. The rest of the incident
solar radiation is converted into heat, which significantly increases the temperature of the
PV. The power output of solar cells varies according to change in temperature. Due to
this efficiency of the PV module depend on the temperature so if we installed solar PV

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systems on the water surface benefit from a significant lower ambient temperature in
virtue to the cooling effect of water. If aluminum frames are used for supporting the floating
solar PV module, it carries out the cooler temperature from water as well, bringing down
the overall temperature of the modules.
It is clear that the floating PV modules are more exposure to a lower ambient temperature
of the water bodies, then these modules have lower temperature than ground-mounted
PV modules. More importantly, this effect is considered the main factor to enhance
capacity factor of the floating PV systems when referring to the temperature dependent
I-V curve as displayed in Figure 4.
Figure 4. Temperature dependent I-V curve (Source: RENAC)
A study by Young-Kwan Choi (2014) suggested that floating PV system has a capacity
factor higher from 7.6% to 13.5% than that of ground-mounted PV system [2]. A modeling
result conducted by McKay Abe (2013) showed that placing solar arrays on water will
increase their energy output and efficiency levels by 8% to 10% [4].

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In addition to increasing energy output, other significant advantages of floating PV system
are:
• Land conservation: this is critically important to the jurisdictions where the land
resource is limited. This could also speed up the installation because of no land
acquisition required.
• Water conservation by reduction of evaporation, this is an advantage in areas with
limited water resources.
Other advantages of floating PV system that have been proved by Young-Kwan Choi
(2014) are its comparable investment cost (+1.2%, without consideration of land
acquisition cost) and faster installation because of modular structure design.
2.3. Technology disadvantages
There are several disadvantages of floating PV system that needs to be considered for
the project development, including:
 The floating PV system is more exposure to hydraulic and weather conditions, then
may result in unstable power output.
 Fishing and transportation activities may be affected by the floating system.
 Located within the water environment could lead to the corrosion of modules and
structures, thus could reduce the system lifetime.

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3. MARKET ANALYSIS
3.1. Development history
According to International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), there were 303
Gigawatts of solar PV systems installed until 2016 [5], reaching a CAGR of 29.7% in the
last 10 years. The following figure shows the historical development of solar PV globally.
Figure 5: Global solar PV installation as of 2016 (Source: IRENA, 2017)
Of the global PV installations until 2016, only seven countries have already accounted
for 75% of installed capacity, these are China (77.4 GW), Japan (42.8 GW), Germany
(41.3 GW), USA (40.9 GW), Italy (19.3 GW), India (9.1 GW) and Korea (4.4 GW).
While solar PV industry has had more than 100 years history of development, floating
solar PV has just 10 years of age since the first system installed at a vineyard in Napa
Valley, California, the United States. Other systems were installed in the same year in
Japan, France, and India but they were experimental systems.
At the Far Niente winery in California, in an effort to both conserve vine acreage and
expand on their existing ground-mounted system, they placed 1,000 solar panels over

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an irrigation pond on the property with a total capacity of 175 kW [6]. The panels were
secured on 130 floating pontoons and connected to the land-based system to
collectively generate 477 kW at peak output. Combined with the ground-mounted
system, the additional floating panels allow the facility to completely offset its electrical
needs. By installing the panels over the pond, Far Niente was able to save more than
75% of an acre of vines, equivalent to US$150,000 worth of bottled wine annually [7].
However, the global floating PV technology was not well development until 2013, one
year after the introduction of Feed-in-tariff (FIT) mechanism [8] for renewable energy in
Japan as an effort of energy transition because of the Fukushima nuclear disaster
happened in 2011. With a high FIT of US$53.4 Cent/kWh, floating PV in Japan has been
really boosted with 45 systems added to the grid, leading the global deployment of
floating solar PV. The following figure shows how floating PV was added to the global
energy generation system since the first plant installed in 2007.
Figure 6: Global floating PV installation as of 2016 [9]

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According to a statistics report by Solar Asset Management [10], as of 2016, there were
70 floating PV systems around the world, just consideration of capacity from 5 kW and
above. Of these systems, there are some facts to know:
• Global combined capacity: 94,358 kW
• World’s largest plant: 20 MW (Anhui, China - 2016)
• World’s smallest plant: 5 kW (Orlando, US - 2016)
• World’s largest quantity: 45 plants with combined capacity of 56.5 MW (Japan)
• Percentage of floating PV to all solar PV applications in 2016: 0.0311%
Following Japan, floating PV technology is also popular in Korea with 13 plants for a
combined capacity of 2,271 kW, in which the largest system has a capacity of 1,000 kW
installed at the inlet water channel of the EWP thermal power plant [11].
Recently, the world largest floating PV plant with a capacity of 40 MW was connected
to the grid in China in May 2017, also at the same location of a coal mining area in
Anhui, China [12]. The world total combined capacity of floating PV is now 134,358 kW.
The list of 71 floating PV plants around the world (capacity 5 kW and above), as of July
2017 is presented in Table 1.
Table 1: Statistic of 71 floating PV plants around the world, as of July 2017
Rank
Size
(kW)
Name of reservoir (lake) /
Name of Plant
Country
City/Province
Operating
from
1
40000
Coal mining subsidence area
of Huainan City
China
Anhui Province
May. 2017
2
20000
Coal mining subsidence area
of Huainan City
China
Anhui Province
Apr. 2016
3
7500
Kawashima Taiyou to shizen
no megumi Solarpark
Japan
Saitama
Oct. 2015
4
6338
Queen Elizabeth II reservoir
UK
London
Mar. 2016
5
3000
Otae Province
South
Korea
Sangju City
Gyeongsang Bukdo
Oct. 2015
6
3000
Jipyeong Province
South
Korea
Sangju City
Gyeongsang Bukdo
Oct. 2015
7
2991
Godley Reservoir
UK
Godley
Jan. 2016
8
2449
Tsuga Ike
Japan
Mie
Aug. 2016
9
2398
Sohara Ike
Japan
Mie
Mar. 2016
10
2313
Sakasama Ike
Japan
Hyogo
Apr. 2015
11
2000
Reservior in Kumagaya city
Japan
Saitama
Dec. 2014

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Rank
Size
(kW)
Name of reservoir (lake) /
Name of Plant
Country
City/Province
Operating
from
12
2000
Kinuura Lumberyard
Japan
Aichi
Feb. 2016
13
2000
Yado Ooike (Sun Lakes
Yado)
Japan
Hyogo
Jan. 2016
14
1751
Hirono Shinike
Japan
Hyogo
Sep. 2016
15
1708
Yakenoike
Japan
Hyogo
Jul. 2016
16
1700
Nishi Hiraike
Japan
Hyogo
Apr. 2015
17
1700
Hyogo No.9 Plant
Japan
Hyogo
Apr. 2015
18
1500
Kakogawa City
Japan
Hyogo
Sep. 2015
19
1485
Funatsu Ooike
Japan
Hyogo
Sep. 2015
20
1430
Kawahara Yama Solar Plant
Japan
Hyogo
Dec. 2015
21
1330
Mito City
Japan
Ibaraki
Aug. 2015
22
1260
Hira Ike
Japan
Hyogo
Jul. 2016
23
1212
Kobe Ooike
Japan
Hyogo
May 2016
24
1203
Ainoike
Japan
Hyogo
May 2016
25
1200
Higashi Hiraike
Japan
Hyogo
Apr. 2015
26
1180
Solar on the water Okegawa
Japan
Saitama
Jul. 2013
27
1176
Kasai City
Japan
Hyogo
Feb. 2015
28
1153
Arashiyama floating solar
plant
Japan
Saitama
Sep. 2015
29
1125
Hirai Ike
Japan
Nara
Jul. 2015
30
1098
Shimane Solar Power Yasugi
Japan
Shimane
Nov. 2014
31
1078
Nagaike Nishi Ike
Japan
Hyogo
Mar. 2016
32
1076
Fukuike
Japan
Hyogo
Jun. 2015
33
1008
Tokorozawa Ike
Japan
Hyogo
Mar. 2015
34
1000
DREAM Solar Float
Kounoyama
Japan
Osaka
Oct 2016
35
990
Kasai City
Japan
Hyogo
Oct 2016
36
973
Kasaoka Jyubancho
Reservior
Japan
Okayama
May 2016
37
850
Maeno Ike
Japan
Hyogo
Sep. 2014
38
808
Sakurashita Ike
Japan
Hyogo
Feb. 2016
39
696
Kawagoe City Resource
Convention Centre
Japan
Saitama
Jun. 2014
40
631
Isawa Ike
Japan
Tokushima
Oct 2016
41
630
Torigaike Floating Solar
Plant
Japan
Hyogo
Feb. 2016
42
528
Fukuchi machi
Japan
Fukuoka
Aug. 2015
43
504
Imandou Ike
Japan
Osaka
Sep. 2015
44
495
Ochang
South
Korea
Chungcheonbuk
Feb. 2015
45
490
Jyuman Ike
Japan
Hyogo
Mar. 2016
46
477
Napa Country Far Niente
Winery (177 kW floating)
USA
California
2007

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Rank
Size
(kW)
Name of reservoir (lake) /
Name of Plant
Country
City/Province
Operating
from
47
471
Polybell
UK
South Yorkshire
Dec. 2015
48
460
Aisai City
Japan
Aichi
Dec. 2015
49
400
Towa Arcs Yoshimi Floating
Solar Plant
Japan
Saitama
Apr. 2016
50
343
Pontecorvo
Italy
Italy
Mar. 2016
51
300
Rengeji Ike
Japan
Fukuoka
Jul. 2016
52
200
Sheepland farm
UK
Wargrave City
Aug. 2014
53
108
Sungai Labu
Malaysia
Sepang City
Nov. 2015
54
100
Ben Acre
UK
Benacre Village
Dec. 2015
55
96
Swimsol Lagoon
Maldives
Baa Atoll
Feb. 2016
56
59
Yoshioka Kaatsukijyou
Japan
Chiba
Apr. 2016
57
50
Reeders
UK
-
Dec. 2015
58
50
Eshkol reservoir
Israel
Jerusalem
Oct 2014
59
48
Inogayaike Solar Plant
Japan
Hyogo
Aug. 2014
60
40
Yanagiike Solar Plant
Japan
Hyogo
Jan. 2014
61
33
The Slufter
Netherlands
Rotterdam
Oct 2015
62
25
Westpoort industrial estate
Netherlands
Groningen
Mar. 2016
63
22
Nofar
Israel
Yavne
Nov. 2015
64
15
Piolenc
France
Piolenc City
Feb. 2011
65
13
Bör
Sweden
Bor
Dec. 2015
66
10
Kunde Winery
USA
Sonoma
Jun. 2016
67
10
Rajarhat
India
West Bengal
Jan. 2015
68
6
Yoshiwaraike
Japan
Kagawa
Nov. 2014
69
5
Pond Gardens of Bishan
Park
Singapore
Bishan
May2013
70
5
Yothathikan
Thailand
Samut Songkhram
Oct 2014
71
5
UFC Orlando
USA
Orlando
Mar. 2016
Total
134,308
Average capacity (kW)
1,892
(Source: Solar Asset Management, 2016 and WEF, 2017)
According to the above statistics, the average capacity of a floating PV system is as
small as 1,892 kW when compared with the world largest system of 40,000 kW.
However, this world largest system in China has proved that floating PV system could
be developed at utility scale on a commercial basis.

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3.2. Key drivers of global solar PV applications
Solar PV is playing an important role in decarbonization process of the energy system.
According to IRENA, the global PV applications may reach the installed capacity of
2,921 GW in 2030 and 6,348 GW in 2050, up from 303 GW in 2016 [13].
Key drivers to boost the global solar PV applications are known as the attractive
governmental incentives, the decline of PV system pricing, and the increase of PV
module efficiency.
Also according to IRENA, it is expected that the price of turnkey PV to drop to 1.92
US$/W in 2020, a 61% decrease as compared to 2010 [14].
Figure 7: Turnkey PV price, historical and projection (Source: IRENA, 2014)
Another salient finding is the roughly 75% decrease in solar panel prices from 2010 to
2017, and the cost of inverters also dropped roughly 63% at the same time, though that
item makes up a smaller share of the pie. Overall, the cost of an installed array fell by
some 56% from 2010 to 2017.
Going along with the PV cost decline is the improvement of PV module efficiency.
Commercial monocrystalline solar panels have the improved their highest efficiencies

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to reach the range of 17% to 21%, whereas the majority of panels range from 14% to
16% efficiency rating. SunPower panels are known for being the most efficient solar
panel brand available on the market efficiency ratings as high as 22.5% [15]. Figure 8
shows the reported efficiencies of current best-performing commercial PV modules.
Figure 8: Current efficiencies of commercial PV modules (Source: Energy Sage)

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3.3. Global market potential of floating solar PV
As the global installation of PV applications increase, floating PV market is expected to
perform consistently with that trend. There are a few market researches on floating solar
panels, that provide implications for the floating solar PV market.
According to a market study report published by Credence Research, the floating solar
panel market was valued at US$ 0.16 billion in 2016 and is expected to reach US$ 1.6
billion by 2022, expanding at a combined annual growth rate (CAGR) of 113.9% from
2016 to 2022 [16]. Another research by Grand View Research forecasts that global
floating panel market is expected to reach US$ 2.5 billion by 2025 [17].
Figure 9 below shows the projection of global floating panel market by Credence
Research.
Figure 9: Global floating panel market potential (Source: Credence Research, 2016)
In the report by Grand View Research (2017), it is projected that the demand for
stationary floating panel accounted for over 90% of the overall revenue share in 2015
because of its cost competitiveness as compared to tracking floating panel. Tracking
floating solar panel is expected to grow due to the increased efficiency of the panels
with tracking technology.
According to Grand View Research (2017), Japan accounted for over 75% of the overall
revenue share in 2015 due to the low availability of land and favorable initiatives taken

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by the government to promote the use of renewable sources of energy, mainly the
attractive FIT. In addition, the industry is expected to grow substantially on account of
the numerous plans sanctioned by the Japanese government. Figure 10 below shows
the Japan floating solar panel market revenue during 2014 to 2025.
Figure 10: Japan floating solar panels market revenue, by product, 2014 - 2025
(US$ million, Source: Grand View Research (2017))
Asia Pacific dominated the global floating solar panel market, where demand in Japan,
Korea, Australia, India, Singapore, the Philippines are increasing and will spread all over
the world.
Figure 11: Global floating solar panels market, by region, 2015 (%)
(Source: Grand View Research (2017))

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Key drivers to foster the growth of floating panel technology in the next 10 years:
• The growing focus of various governments towards the use of renewable energy for
power generation
• Lower environmental pollution by reducing the dependence on fossil fuels
• Declining panel cost leading to lower per unit cost of generation is a key factor
promoting the use of solar technology for power generation.
• Lack of availability of suitable land for installation.
3.4. Key players in the floating PV market
Of the 72 floating solar PV projects globally, a company named Ciel & Terre dominates
the market with 43 plants, accounting for 59.7% of total installation globally. Of these 43
plants, there are 40 plants installed in Japan with a combined capacity of 54 MW,
accounting for 88.9% of this market.
According to Ciel & Terre, the company has completed 69 MW installed capacity by
2016. Another 135 MW installed capacity is under implementation and is expected to be
completed by the end of 2017, making a combined capacity of 204 MW worldwide [18].
Typical installations by Ciel & Terre are introduced in Figure 12 [19].
Figure 12: Typical installations of floating PV by Ciel & Terre
(Source: Ciel & Terre (2017))

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Figure 13 shows the accumulative installed capacity by Ciel & Terre worldwide.
Figure 13: Global installation of floating PV by Ciel & Terre (Source: Ciel & Terre (2017))
As a newly developed technology, floating PV players are really limited around the world
with just a few developers. Other developers involved in this market with just several
megawatts installed capacity experience such as Ibiden Engineering, Takiron
Engineering, Environmental-resources development, West Energy Solutions & Kyoraku

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Thompson Technology Industries, Inc. (all are Japanese companies), K-Water (Korea),
Sunfloat (the Netherlands), Swimsol (Austria), Solaris Synergy (Israel) and REC Solar
(Singapore).
As mentioned earlier, Sumitomo Mitsui Construction has commercialized a floating PV
structure product that is a plug-and-play system allowing quick installation and easy
expansion.
Kyocera Corporation, Trina Solar, Sharp Corporation and Yingli Solar are the main PV
panel suppliers in the market, as indicated in the report by Grand View Research (2017).

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CONCLUSIONS
With 10 years of development history, floating solar PV technology has made a
significant progress by having the world largest system installed in China in May 2017
with 40 MW capacity. Recent efforts of national governments around the world to
promote renewable energy by issuing attractive investment incentives, together with the
decline in turkey PV system cost and the improvement of PV module efficiency are three
key drivers to elevate the floating PV technology in the last 3 years. As land resources
have become more and more limited, floating PV technology has proved to be the
reasonable solution in the upcoming years for national governments around the world
to meet their targets on solar PV deployment and GHG reductions.

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REFERENCES
[1]. Alok Sahu, Neha Yadav, K. Sudhakar. “Floating photovoltaic power plant: A
review” (2016)
[2]. Young-Kwan Choi, Ph.D. “A Study on Power Generation Analysis of Floating PV
System Considering Environmental Impact” (2014)
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