tl;dr Floating solar has the potential to supply a terawatt of energy capacity or more, out of the 16 or so that the world needs. A terawatt here, a terawatt there, and pretty soon you're talking about real power.
Yes, solar PV parks floating on, well, what sort of water do you have? Lakes, rivers, reservoirs, water at the bottom of surface mines and quarries, the ocean? Talk to us. You can even try this at home, with a low-cost floating solar water fountain that you can buy on eBay, Wayfair, Amazon, Home Depot, Target, Walmart…for your swimming pool, fishpond, birdbath…
The Market
Why Is Floating Solar Emerging So Quickly, & Where Is It Going?
Solarplaza’s Top 200 floating solar plants shows that China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea are leading the pack, however, with many projects under development in countries like India, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, the Netherlands, France, and the United States, deployment is accelerating globally.
The World Bank’s Where Sun Meets Water Report most conservative estimates show that covering 10% of all suitable inland water bodies would add-up to over 4 TW peak capacity.
Solarplaza is hosting a Global Floating Solar Conference in September in Amsterdam, addressing all of this with experts from all over the world.
We need somewhat more than 16 TW capacity in all. The Sun gives us many, many times that in light, wind, and rain, each.