Phelan Energy Group is a leading solar energy innovator, most known in South Africa for the massive solar farm it built in De Aar, Northern Cape, back in 2016. The farm, 600,000 panels strong, has a total capacity of 175MW, and was contracted to deliver renewable energy to Eskom for 20 years. Now, the future-focused company has unveiled its next project: floating solar panels.

Phelan wet

Phelan Energy presented the project at the Floating Solar Conference, held in Amsterdam at the end of September, reports Business Insider. Floating solar solutions aren’t particularly mainstream yet, having only really started making waves within the last ten years or so, but they’re gaining momentum.

Floating solar solutions offer a number of perks their landlubber counterparts can’t. They’re easier to set up and take apart, they don’t take up land-space, and their power generation to surface area ratio is better thanks to the cooling effect of the water surrounding them. That second point makes them particularly useful for areas that are particularly sun-rich but lacking in land space.

Phelan’s proposed floating solar project, called FloatSun, is made of 120 cells. Main floats, built using a thermoplastic polymer frame, are 1.9 by 1.2 meters in area, and float with their panels just above the surface of the water. This makes for optimal cooling and, thus, energy production. Walkway floats are fitted alongside the main ones, providing easy access for installation and maintenance.

Phelan plans to implement FloatSun installations first with already existing hydroelectric dams, but there is a version built for ocean installations currently in development.

Units will be produced in Dubai, and Phelan plans to have a million ready within a year, and 4 million more two years after that.