A development of MW-grade solar power plants would first require extensive land area to install tens of thousands of solar panels, which is not an easy task for island countries that are small in territory and large in population. That is why installations of offshore solar modules may be a good choice. The Netherlands is recently testing the feasibility of thin film solar for offshore applications.
The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) is currently testing a solar pilot system for the Solar@Sea II program at Oostvoornse Meer with energy companies Bluewater Energy Services, Genap, Endures, and Marin, as well as Avans Hogeschool.
The program consists of 20kWp solar modules on two 7x13m buoys, where both the modules and buoys are made with flexible materials, and observes the power generation, durability under wave and gale, as well as the status of organic materials.
It is not an easy task to establish offshore solar systems. Aside from salt and alkaline erosion from seawater and sea wind, the continuous waves also pose as a major threat to solar systems, and test the design and techniques of installation, since any mistakes or inexperience would result in abrasion from rear-cables of floating solar panels that lead to fire.
Hence, many offshore solar developers, instead of traditional buoys and pontoon bridges, are leaning towards “platforms” made with flexible materials. Take the Norwegian startup Ocean Sun for instance. Its products look like a blue Victoria or trampoline from afar, and installations of solar panels on the platform would eliminate the possibility of solar panels rubbing against each other.
Ocean Sun is also currently working with Fred Olsen Renewables on establishing a 250kWp floating solar pilot program near Canarias of Spain, while the Norwegian energy company Equinor also revealed this year the plan to work with the engineering company Moss Maritime on a floating solar power plant at the surging Norwegian Sea.
TNO hopes to lower the cost by dropping the weight of buoys and anchors, as well as reducing the wave resistance of buoys and modules. Wim Soppe, TNO researcher and project manager of Solar@Sea II, commented that it is somewhat technically challenging to operate offshore solar panels for more than 10 years, while the exorbitant buoy materials that are heavy and durable also increase the cost level, which makes it less than feasible from an economy perspective, thus the research team is placing its hopes on the new technology.
The pilot program will continue until summer 2022, and has received subsidization from the EZK, with the next step being a floating solar system at the North Sea. TNO commented that it plans to deploy 1-5MWp of commercial systems, and become a neighbor with the offshore wind power plant at North Sea.
The Netherlands has a total land area of approximately 41,526 km2, as well as 7,643 km2 of water space, with half of the land area being one meter below sea level, and most onshore regions are reclaimed land. Being a highly urbanized country with a significantly dense population, the Netherlands has also targeted offshore development, and believes that floating solar may become an important factor in energy transformation. The country is expected to arrive at 200 GWp in solar energy by 2050, of which 25 GWp will be established on onshore waterways, and 45 GWp will be allocated to offshore solar energy.
The offshore solar farm co-established by Dutch green energy startup Oceans of Energy, ECN, Utrecht University, as well as six Dutch companies and research institutions, has been operating for 18 months. TNO had previously worked with petrochemical company SABIC, Norwegian energy company Equinor, and Westvoorne government on a 1-year testing for a floating solar design at Oostvoornse Meer for the purpose of testing the durability of these technologies under large waves, strong wind, and seawater.
(Cover photo source: TNO)