Guide shows the potential of PV Lakes

16.07.2025

Source: E & M powernews

A new guide from Fraunhofer ISE highlights the opportunities and challenges of floating PV. The publication is aimed at municipalities, utilities and operators.

Floating photovoltaic systems are considered a promising option for the energy transition - especially where available space is scarce. With a new guide, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE aims to provide targeted support for the market launch of such systems in Germany. The publication presents the technical principles and legal framework and assesses the sustainability of the technology.

The approximately 70-page guide is based on research results from the "PV2Float" and "FPV4Resilience" projects. Both were funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the Sustainability Center Freiburg. According to Fraunhofer ISE, the guide is primarily aimed at municipal utilities, energy suppliers, municipal decision-makers, project developers and specialist planners.

The document provides an overview of components such as substructures, PV modules and inverters. Fraunhofer ISE also presents new approaches for optimizing the energy yield of floating PV. Ecological effects are also dealt with - for example through information on site selection and water protection measures. The guide also addresses questions of economic efficiency. According to Karolina Baltins, group leader for PV power plants at Fraunhofer ISE, the publication answers, among other things, which requirements systems on artificial bodies of water such as dredged or reservoir lakes must fulfill in order to be eligible for approval.

The Fraunhofer researchers see particularly high potential in the use of bodies of water that already have an industrial character. These include gravel pits, for example, where electricity can contribute directly to the decarbonization of adjacent industrial processes. They are also looking at flooded opencast mines. The researchers estimate that an installed capacity of between 13,700 and 19,100 MW could be realized with an area coverage of only 15 percent on such bodies of water.

One focus of the guide is on sustainability. The authors examine ecological, economic and social aspects of the technology and evaluate floating PV in comparison to land-based systems.

The guide "Floating PV: Sustainable energy generation on water" can be downloaded from the Fraunhofer ISE website. Information on the underlying research projects and ongoing studies in the field of floating solar technologies can also be found there.

Author: Davina Spohn