Sunlit Sea (Sunlit, Norway) has developed a floater-module integrated FPV system. They have several pilot projects in Norwegian and US waters. Metsolar (Lithuania) makes custom PV modules and has worked with Sunlit for years. Sunlit will update their design to decrease resource burden and production cost by using SuRE to bring new technologies into their production line. During the project, SuRE will build a 105 kW pilot at Singløya, Norway
In Sunlit’s design, two aluminum sheets, pressed into an egg-carton-like shape, are layered to form a pontoon by trapping air; the photovoltaic module is directly affixed to the top aluminum sheet. Heat is efficiently transferred through the metal and into the water. Neighboring floats are connected with controllable hinges, adapted to expected wave conditions. Sunlit’s design has received preliminary verification from DNV.
The current Sunlit design uses partially optimized aluminum pressing. The key improvements targeted within SuRE include:
A reduction in aluminum consumption, An increase in digital modeling to reduce the time required for prototype construction, An increase in production throughput and automation. Sunlit and Metsolar will build a 100 kW pilot during the SuRE project, equipped with additional sensors and a monitoring system to support generalizable results, even beyond the project period. This pilot will be deployed on the Norwegian coast.
Anchoring system improvements, water quality monitoring, biodiversity impact assessment, and business case evaluation.
Ciel et Terre (France) and Laketricity (France)
Testing components for wave resilience and creating designs suitable for rougher water environments.
Zimmermann PV-Steel Group (Germany) and BayWa r.e., (Germany)
