Florida college installs 700 kW floating solar project

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D3Energy began construction of a 700 kW solar project for Nova Southeastern University in Florida. Instead of fastening it to a rooftop or mounting it on the ground, this project took a novel approach, installing the array on a floating structure on a body of water on campus. 

The project marks the first floating solar array installed at a university in the United States. The array will directly power student housing on campus. 

“This installation at NSU demonstrates how floating solar can deliver real benefits for institutions that may not have the land or rooftop space for large-scale solar,” said Stetson Tchividjian, managing director of D3Energy. 

The solar array spans about two acres and is comprised of 1,200 solar modules secured to an anchoring system designed to withstand hurricane-force winds. It is installed on the Hydrelio floating platform developed by floating photovoltaics specialist Ciel & Terre. 

Construction is underway, and the project is expected to be interconnected with the grid by the end of 2025, said D3Energy. Once complete, the project is expected to meet most of the electricity needs of Mako Hall, Nova Southeastern University’s newest student housing complex. 

While floating solar structures can require more capital expenditure than traditional solar, they may pose benefits in lowered land leasing costs and improved function of the panels due to cooling from the water. A study found that floating PV can potentially result in a decrease of up to 85% in the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) compared to land-based PV (LPV) systems, even despite the higher initial capital investment. The study found potential energy yield increases of up to 35.9% for floating solar compared to conventional systems. They highlight several factors that affect the ability to achieve this maximum performance, including irradiance level, tilt angle, temperature, and cooling effect, among others. 

“Based on the comprehensive review spanning from 2013 to 2022, it has been consistently demonstrated that floating photovoltaic systems outperform conventional land solar PV systems under homogeneous conditions,” the research concluded. 

An area of opportunity for floating solar in the United States is on water reservoirs. Federally controlled reservoirs have between 861 GW and 1,042 GW of potential floating solar generation capacity, and it is well distributed across the U.S., according to a study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). These estimates have the potential to generate about half of the solar energy needed to decarbonize the U.S. electric grid by 2050, NREL found. 

The U.S. has more floating solar potential than any other country in the world, according to a study published in Nature Sustainability in March 2023. 

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