Floating solar structure Heard and McDonald Islands

Where are the Heard and McDonald Islands located?

The Heard and McDonald Islands are remote subantarctic volcanic features located in the Southern Ocean, halfway between Australia and South Africa. They are approximately 1700 km from the Antarctic continent and 4000 km southwest of mainland Australia (Australian Government 2016 ). Heard Island is 43 km long and 21 km wide.

What is the global capacity of floating solar PV plants?

As of the end of September 2018, the global cumulative installed capacity of floating solar PV plants totalled 1.1 GW. Demand for floating solar PV is expanding, especially on islands (and other land-constrained territories), as the cost of the water surface is generally lower than the cost of land.

Could offshore solar power be a game-changer for small island states?

According to Vicky Lin—a project coordinator at Blue21, a Dutch company involved in various floating urban projects—finding ways to tap the massive potential for offshore solar power generation could lead to huge growth in the FPV industry. Progress in this area could also be a game-changer for small island states.

What is a floating solar system?

Floating solar or floating photovoltaics (FPV), sometimes called floatovoltaics, are solar panels mounted on a structure that floats on a body of water, typically a reservoir or a lake such as drinking water reservoirs, quarry lakes, irrigation canals or remediation and tailing ponds.

Is floating solar a viable alternative to land?

Demand for floating solar PV is expanding, especially on islands (and other land-constrained territories), as the cost of the water surface is generally lower than the cost of land. Floating solar is particularly well suited to Asia, where land is scarce but there are many hydroelectric dams with existing transmission infrastructure.

Are floating solar PV systems a new technology?

Floating solar PV systems are not a new technology, but the combination of fully commercialized technologies combined in new ways, for example, moored flat-bottom boats and solar photovoltaic systems, including panels, transmission and inverters from direct to alternating current.