The Prospects of the Floating Photovoltaic Solutions 

Intense competition is inevitable, and the photovoltaic companies involved are also seeking opportunities to stand out.

In the technological innovation of the battery technology route, different companies have placed bets on different technology routes. Before the next generation of photovoltaic cell dominance was born, many coastal provinces and cities, securities institutions, upstream material and downstream equipment enterprises gradually shifted their focus to another relatively segmented field, "floating photovoltaic solutions".

An Guangyong, an expert from the Credit Management Committee of the All China Mergers and Acquisitions Association, pointed out to the new energy industry that offshore photovoltaics have several obvious advantages over onshore photovoltaics, "Firstly, the offshore space is broader, which can avoid the competition and occupation of land resources and provide greater development potential. Secondly, offshore wind energy is stronger, which can improve the efficiency of photovoltaic and wind power generation. In addition, the cost of the floating photovoltaic solution is relatively low. It does not affect agricultural land and ecological environment, making it more sustainable."

As a major photovoltaic country, China is also laying out floating photovoltaic solutions. Coastal provinces such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Liaoning, and Guangdong have all launched their own offshore photovoltaic projects in recent years.

Among them, Shandong is the most radical. On September 25th, the General Office of the People's Government of Shandong Province issued a notice on the issuance of the three-year action plan for expanding domestic demand in Shandong Province (2023-2025). It is mentioned that we will vigorously develop new and renewable energy, accelerate the construction of offshore wind power bases on the Shandong Peninsula, build offshore photovoltaic bases around the Bohai Sea and along the Yellow Sea, and research and explore the development model of "wind and solar in the same field" offshore clean energy.

But success is not achieved overnight, and China's offshore photovoltaic projects have experienced setbacks.

In October 2022, the Shandong Peninsula South 3 offshore wind farm successfully generated electricity through the 20 MW deep-sea floating photovoltaic 500 kW demonstration project, becoming the world's first deep-sea wind and solar floating photovoltaic demonstration project put into operation.

However, the project was exposed in April of this year as the "first floating photovoltaic project for deep sea wind and solar power on the same site has run away". Regarding the accident of all photovoltaic modules being "lost", State Grid Investment Corporation has not made a public statement or qualitative analysis of the cause of the accident, and only industry insiders have stated that it is not a recent occurrence.

It is not difficult to see from this that the difficulty of offshore photovoltaic projects is evident, and continuous exploration is still needed in terms of technology.

As An Guangyong analyzed the mediocre progress of floating photovoltaic solutions, although there are signs of policy loosening for offshore photovoltaics projects, attention still needs to be paid to the implementation and substantive support. "Firstly, high investment costs and technological challenges have limited the development of offshore photovoltaics. Secondly, offshore engineering construction is difficult, and the marine environment is harsh, increasing the difficulty and cost of operation and maintenance. There is also uncertainty in policies, lacking specialized legislation and clear policy support for offshore photovoltaics."

At the same time, in the view of financial commentator Zhang Xuefeng, floating photovoltaic solutions involve a series of inputs and costs such as marine exploration, equipment manufacturing, installation, operation and maintenance, and these costs are relatively high. The huge initial investment in floating photovoltaic solutions may pose certain obstacles to its future development.

However, Zhang Xuefeng also affirmed the future of floating photovoltaic solutions, saying, "With the advancement of technology and large-scale production, the cost of floating photovoltaic solutions is gradually decreasing, and government support also helps to reduce investment costs. In the long run, the development prospects of floating photovoltaic solutions are good, and the huge investment in the early stage can obtain more stable and sustainable power generation benefits, thereby promoting further development of the industry."

With the breakthrough of the technology of floating photovoltaic solutions, it is just around the corner for the ocean to become a forest.