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Energy

Wave-resistant PV platform explores offshore solar potential

By Paul Ridden
October 21, 2024
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The wave-resistant solar platform will be tested for a year following installation at the Huaneng's offshore wind farm in the Yellow Sea
CGTN
The wave-resistant solar platform will be tested for a year following installation at the Huaneng's offshore wind farm in the Yellow Sea
CGTN

Fields turned over to solar farms are becoming a more common sight as we look towards a zero-carbon future. But like wind turbines, massive PV installations may soon be heading offshore. China is looking to lead the charge, and is embarking on sea trials of a wave-resistant hexagonal floating platform.

The Yellow Sea No. 1 is being transported to a wind farm operated by the Huaneng Group in the southern Shandong Peninsula, and signals the start of China's offshore solar research program.

The test rig's 1,624-sq-m (~17,500-sq-ft) upper surface area is home to 434 photovoltaic panels that will test three different technologies and have four different capacities to determine the most robust setup. The platform stands 9 m (29.5 ft) tall on a series of 64 buoys mounted around the lower structure. Cables secured to the seabed keep it in position, and it's designed to withstand 10-m waves.

"When the waves come into contact with the photovoltaic panels, salt crystals will form, which will affect the efficiency of photoelectric conversion, said project engineer Bi Cheng. "In addition, seawater will corrode our photovoltaic components and electrical systems. Therefore, our entire platform is raised to a higher level above the sea, so that even under sea conditions unseen in 50 years, the waves will not come into contact with our photovoltaic panels."

The research phase will run for a year after installation, and is situated some 30 km (18.6 miles) offshore in waters that are 30 m (98.4 ft) deep. According to Qingdao officials, team members will monitor resistance to wind and waves as well overall durability, assess yield efficiency and maintenance requirements and more. The data gathered will inform the development of future offshore solar systems expected to integrate with existing offshore wind farms.

Huaneng and partners are not the only ones looking to tap into the potential of offshore solar. Dr. Luofeng Huang at Cranfield University is looking into wave-resilient floating PV platforms for remote Indonesian islands. SolarDuck and RWE have recently installed a floating solar pilot at a North Sea wind farm. Ocean Sun has developed a flexible floating rig that rises and falls with the waves. And NoviOcean recently tested a hybrid platform for harvesting energy from wind, wave and solar.

Sources: Chinese government, CGTN

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EnergySolar PowerPhotovoltaicFloatingChina
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Paul Ridden
While Paul is loath to reveal his age, he will admit to cutting his IT teeth on a TRS-80 (although he won't say which version). An obsessive fascination with computer technology blossomed from hobby into career before hopping over to France for 10 years, where he started work for New Atlas in 2009. Now back in his native Blighty, he serves as Managing Editor in Europe.
12 comments
Rick O
I don't understand why we keep putting panels in fields and oceans. There are so many buildings with roofs, and parking lots that could use roofs to keep cars cool in the summer and clean in the winter (and charge some of them). Covered roads might be a good option, but more prone to damage from higher speed accidents or oversize trucks. Train tracks would be another good place to put them. Only water that should be covered are reservoirs (to prevent evap) and solar domes over sewer plants that can also capture methane emissions. Main point is, why cover good greens spaces and oceans, when there is plenty of architecture to use? it just seems silly.
FoFu
@ Ricl O
Agreed. 100%
Douglas Rogers
This is much better than land PV because it doesn't increase the thermalization of solar power. A land based PV panel has the same thermalization as black asphalt.
anthony88
If they attach the mooring lines to a power take-off system, they can generate some more energy from ocean swells.
Dave Holland
9 meters above the surface isn't going to stop salt on the panels inhibiting performance and it isn't going to prevent corrosion.
Dreadalus
Agree with @Dave Holland. Not to mention the guano buildup.
Karmudjun
The best place China might trial this technology would be on Mt. Everest. The corrosive effects of salt and the rogue wave propensity will be negligible at the 28,000 to 29,000 feet range, (8,700 to 8,848 meters), the only concern would be wind gusts. The people around Everest would enjoy the arrival of a supply of electricity at such a high level, maybe even the Chinese could learn how to harden their construction to withstand such rigors. That might be asking too much of our Chinese compatriots though. Shading our oceans where kelp might have grown is one way to help deplete the oceans' food chain. Add to that the corrosive nature of salt water spray & accumulations....
christopher
"Avoid the waves" is probably the opposite of smart: salt spray will deposit crystals non-stop, and birds will foul it too: Using nano-glass or other hydrophobic coatings and allowing waves to wash off all buildup makes more sense.

A visit to a "beach shack" or anyone else who collects flotsam and jetsam would be very educational: so many "smart buoys" wash up everywhere these days, all with solar panels in them, and pretty much all being seriously ruined by the elements. The ocean is *harsh*.
joeblake
If there's concern about the effect of salt corrosion, why not build the platforms with a dome shape so that the rain washes the salt off? It works in areas with lots of dust. I haven't cleaned my rooftop for a couple of years. The loss of efficiency is small.
martinwinlow
@ Rick O - Spot on. Also, no sign of a *very important* module washing facility. 9m up won't make the slightest difference to evaporated salt-spray residue and bird poo. A simple rotating arm with rotary bushes would do. But more moving parts to fail, of course.
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