Brouwer: ‘We know the agricultural market very well and don’t want to fall into the trap of having fierce protests from local residents as has happened – and still does happen - to wind turbines on land. Floating solar farms on the other hand, will meet favourable acceptance.’

‘Moreover’, he continues, ‘floating solar farms offer two additional advantages: since sunlight penetrates from both sides, direct and by way of reflection on water, we gain over 14 percent higher yields. Those yields more than offset the extra costs we have for linking modules into one platform that can withstand all weather conditions, including icing.’

Is there a breakthrough in the Netherlands at hand? According to Wiep Folkerts, director at Solar Energy Application Center (SEAC), the future of floating solar is bright. ‘The Netherlands is a densely populated area. It’s not easy to find enough land for large-scale solar meadows. But there are quite a lot suitable water bodies, from sludge depots to sandpits. All those locations aren’t interfering with environmental regulations, local residents or ecological functions’, Folkerts told Solar Magazine.

Besides flat company roofs, floating solar modules may be the best economic solution for photovoltaic energy so far.

Image by: SolarWriter CC BY-SA 3.0 licence.