Floatovoltaics
Are they now commercially viable?
Energy ecosystem players—solar and hydropower producers and operators, photovoltaic system developers, enterprises, residential consumers, clean energy companies, and technology solution providers—all have an opportunity to tap into FPVs’ emerging value based on each player’s role in the value chain. Technology companies could help organizations plan, develop, and deploy the foundational infrastructure for FPVs, maintaining the infrastructure once it is deployed, and measuring and monitoring its performance.
Semiconductor companies could design and develop core manufacturing equipment and chipsets for solar panels. Software providers might help businesses and governments use AI-based dashboards that allow them to design, plan, review, and dynamically change their energy efficiency targets and goals for RE sources, including FPVs; they could also develop products that monitor weather and provide situational awareness when managing FPV panels.
Analytics providers could partner with RE end users to offer them insights on where and how panels can be deployed, and they could help FPV operators assess grid operations and discover system issues early on. Apart from these potential revenue opportunities, FPVs could be a part of the overall mix of clean energy investments that companies can contract for in the form of PPAs.
One emerging use case is for data centre and cloud service providers to tap into FPVs to supply energy for their operations. Some countries in southeast Asia are already experimenting with submersible data centres that use the surrounding water as a cooling agent.
FPVs could be installed on top of or adjacent to these data centres as a backup or primary source of power.17 With the technology advancing and commercial interest and adoption increasing, FPV is poised to gain a firm foothold in the RE space. The day may fast be approaching when floating solar panels will play a prominent role alongside other RE sources in powering a cleaner world.