Can floating solar power the world?

An international group of researchers has calculated the potential for floating solar across the world. The results show a generation potential of 9,434 TWh per year across 114,555 global reservoirs, with 30% of their area covered.

How many floating solar installations are there in the world?

Today, there are more than 300 floating solar installations worldwide. A report by Wood Mackenzie, a global research firm, estimates that global demand for floating solar power is expected to grow by 22 percent year-over-year on average from 2019 through 2024. WHY FLOATING SOLAR?

How much solar power will a floating solar system produce?

Covering 10% of the world’s hydropower reservoirs with floating solar panels would install nearly 4,000 GW of solar capacity 9 — equivalent to the electricity-generation capacity of all fossil-fuel plants in operation worldwide.

How many solar panels can float on a reservoir?

Floating solar panels in Hapcheon, Gyeongsangnam-do province, South Korea, on Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022. More than 92,000 solar panels floating on the surface of a reservoir are able to generate 41 megawatts, enough to power 20,000 homes.

How much FPV can floating solar power?

In research conducted by the Word Bank, ESMAP and SERIS estimate that, even if 1% of the total surface area of man-made reservoirs is covered by floating solar, the global FPV capacity would reach 400 GW (World Bank Group et al., 2018).

Can floating solar power generate more electricity?

The potential for further growth in floating solar photovoltaic power generation is significant. Hydropower reservoirs alone cover a surface of more than 250 thousand square kilometers worldwide— enough to host enough floating solar capacity to produce 2.5 times the electricity produced by all the underlying hydropower capacity.