Floating Solar // Where Sun Meets Water – Floating Solar Market Report Executive Summary
By World Bank Group, Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) and Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS). Floating solar photovoltaic installations open new opportunities for scaling up solar generating capacity, especially in countries with high population density and competing uses for available land. Floating Solar Market Report - Executive Summary presents an overview of floating solar technologies, current deployment market and future opportunities, challenges related to floating solar deployment, policies and regulatory considerations, and current costs and project structuring.
Advantages of floating solar over land-based systems include higher energy yield, reduced evaporation, and improved water quality, among others. Combining floating solar with hydropower plants is of particular interest. Flexible hydropower output can be used to smooth the variability of the solar generation, while making better use of existing transmission assets, particularly beneficial in countries with weak grids. Flexible hydropower output can be used to smooth the variability of the solar generation, while making better use of existing transmission assets, particularly beneficial in countries with weak grids.
With a global estimated potential of 400 gigawatts, under conservative assumptions, floating solar could double the current global installed capacity of solar PV. Although the market is still nascent and challenges in deployment remain, the floating solar market is set to accelerate as the technologies mature.
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World Bank, Documents & Reports
Published
October 2018