Solar2Wave: Design of Floating Solar Farms to Overcome Tough Ocean Waves 

Partners: Achelous Energy Limited (Lead), Cranfield University, Gerbang Multindo Nusantara, Pt, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (Its), Pattimura University Pt Orela Shipyard

Country: Indonesia

Technology: Next generation solar technologies and business models

Stage: Early

Stage: 9

Indonesia has a population of approximately 273m, of which 1.5m still lack access to the energy grid. These people live on remote islands, relying on diesel power generation that is expensive and unreliable.

The Solar2Wave project will carry out a floating photovoltaic (FPV) based innovation to solve the energy access issue of Indonesia’s remote islands. An FPV farm is fully scalable, as it consists of small individual solar panels. Different sizes of FPV farms can be placed along the coastal line of an island and connected to residents. In particular, the Solar2Wave innovation can ensure that FPV panels remain intact from incident ocean waves, and thus provide a sustainable solution. 

By providing energy access to Indonesia’s remote islands, Solar2Wave will bring improvements to the economy, working conditions, education, health services, and hazard resilience. This will be demonstrated through a case study based on a representative island.