Large installations of solar panels floating on calm seas near the Equator could provide virtually unlimited solar energy to densely populated countries in Southeast Asia and West Africa.
New research shows offshore solar in Indonesia alone could generate about 35,000 terawatt-hours (TWh) of solar energy a year, which is similar to current global electricity production (30,000TWh per year).
Although most of the world’s oceans experience storms, some regions at the Equator are relatively still and peaceful. Therefore relatively inexpensive engineering structures could provide protection for offshore floating solar panels.
High-resolution heat maps show the Indonesian archipelago and equatorial West Africa near Nigeria have the greatest potential for offshore floating solar arrays.
Current trends show the global economy will be largely decarbonised and electrified by 2050, supported by vast amounts of solar and wind energy.
Solar panels can be placed on rooftops, in arid areas, colacated with agriculture or floated on water bodies. However, countries with high population densities, such as Nigeria and Indonesia, have limited space for solar energy harvesting.
Their tropical location in the so-called “doldrum” latitudes also means wind resources are scarce. Fortunately, these countries – and their neighbours – can produce effectively unlimited energy from solar panels floating on calm equatorial seas.
Also, inland floating solar on lakes and reservoirs has large potential and is already growing rapidly.
The study concluded regions that don’t experience waves larger than 6 metres nor winds stronger than 15m per second could generate up to one million TWh per year. Which is about five times more annual energy than is needed for a fully decarbonized global economy supporting 10 billion affluent people.