ENDURANS® SOLAR AND SOLARDUCK
SolarDuck: Proving the concept of floating solar
The potential for floating solar parks capable of servicing coastal or riverside megacities and remote island communities is clear. The challenge has always been creating structures that are financially viable and physically resilient (to wind and waves).
Enter SolarDuck and its unique triangular (16x16x16-meter) floating solar platform, elevated some three meters above the water level and featuring the extremely moisture-resistant Endurans® HP D15 backsheet. Since April 2021, the company has used its extensive offshore knowledge to conduct an extended pilot trial of this technology on the river Waal (a major distributary of the Rhine) in the Netherlands. And the results have been extremely promising.
Initially, SolarDuck linked four of its floating platforms together (each containing 39 solar panels) to create a ‘super platform’ with an installed capacity of 65 kW – all based on PV modules from manufacturer Astronergy (part of the Chint group and now an Endurans® Solar customer).
Putting Endurans® HP D15 to the test
The pilot has featured three different types of module configurations; with Endurans® HP D15, one glass-based, and another featuring a competitive polymer-based backsheet; with our Endurans product performing strongly. In fact, the pilot has gone so well that SolarDuck is now set to quadruple the size of the floating solar platform – which all adds up to a watershed opportunity for this exciting technology.
