One of the largest military bases in the world is building the largest floating solar power plant in the Southeast. This project, which will be located on Big Muddy Lake at Camp Mackall, is part of a $36 million contract focused on energy resilience and security at Fort Bragg. The contract was with Duke Energy as well as the their prime contractor Ameresco. Fort Bragg will own and operate the solar system.
Figure 1: https://info.ameresco.com/fortbraggmediaevent
Figure 1: What are Floating Solar Panels?
Floating Solar photovoltaics are among the growing trend of new solar installations that have been coming to the United States. These installations are mounted on a structure that can float on a body of water which explodes the addressable market for new solar installations to occur. Hydropower reservoirs can be paired with floating solar farms to produce 2.5 times the amount of electricity than the reservoir alone. Floating solar panels tend to be more efficient because the bodies of water act as a cooling effect for the panels.
Figure 2 https://www.theagilityeffect.com/en/article/floating-solar-a-solution-to-land-scarcity/
Figure 2 Although, there are risks that come along with the nascent technology. Construction costs are more expensive than ground-mounted solar farms. Safety risks arise with installing electricity on top of water. Site selection is very important and proper topography of water body needs to be assessed. As research and development continues, these risks will mitigate themselves. Higher construction costs are offset because there are no land costs required for projects.
Growth in the United States
Floating solar panel farms are one of the biggest trends in solar installation in the United States. In their renewable energy outlook for 2022, Deloitte mentioned floating solar farms as a key trend for adaptive solar installation solutions. Over the next 5 years the global floating solar panels market is expected to grow at an approximate 24.53% CAGR. The United States is a prime market for floating solar farms because there are over 24,000 manmade bodies of water which are typically useful for floating solar farm deployments.
The US is behind
Figure 3 https://www.dnv.com/Publications/the-future-of-floating-solar-224530
Figure 3 As seen in the image above provided by DNV, North America is lagging with floating solar installations. As research continues to drive costs down and the massive potential for floating solar gets recognized in the United States, the market is primed to flourish. Companies in the US are re-evaluating their solutions to include floating solar but rely on the majority of their manufacturing from global leaders in the space. Deals that enable companies to provide full-service floating solar solutions will help grow the industry in America and provide great value to investors and consumers.
Companies in the US offering floating solar solutions
D3 Energy– A market leader in floating solar within the United States. Their manufacturing partner includes global floating solar company Ciel & Terre. Ciel & Terre is a pioneer in floating photvoltaic solutions with their patented technology, Hydrelio.
BlueWave– Which was recently acquired by Axium Infrastructure (see article here) is planning on building floating solar farms in the state of Massachusetts to alleviate the rising issue of land shortage in the state to install solar farms.
Noria Energy– Noria provides a range of solar solutions including floating solar farms. They have installed over 200MW of solar in the United States and Latin America.
