Technology for floating panels is expanding beyond lakes and dams to move into the oceans. China plans huge projects off its eastern coastline.
A floating solar power plant on the Strait of Johor in Singapore. Investments in solar are forecast to surpass spending on oil production for the first time this year, spurring the push to examine new and sometimes unlikely sites for solar. Photographer: Bryan van der Beek/Bloomberg
Buffeted by waves as high as 10 meters (32 feet) in China’s Yellow Sea about 30 kilometers off the coast of Shandong province, two circular rafts carrying neat rows of solar panels began generating electricity late last year, a crucial step toward a new breakthrough for clean energy.
The experiment by State Power Investment Corp., China’s biggest renewable power developer, and Norway-based developer Ocean Sun AS is one of the most high-profile tests yet of offshore solar technology. It’s a potential advance in the sector that would enable locations out at sea to host renewables, and help land-constrained regions accelerate a transition away from fossil fuels.
