MCAST is leading a major project to set up a large scale floating solar panel in Malta’s seas in a bid to find innovative solutions to deal with the growing demand for renewable energy.

Solar panels not only require a large footprint, something which is in short supply on 316 square kilometre island, but also suffers serious efficiency issues when temperatures increase.

Seawater, MCAST believes, has the ability to mitigate these disadvantages by using the sea to keep PV panels cool.

Floating PVs on freshwater lakes have been in existence. However, using seawater presents a myriad of challenges in such a harsh environment with currents, waves, corrosion, winds, and maritime traffic all coming into play.

The first pilot system was deployed at sea in 2018. MCAST is hoping that the findings could lead to the commercialisation of the system.

The project, entitled Offshore Passive Photovoltaics (OPPV), is a collaboration between MCAST,  Econetique Ltd, MIRARCO, a research organisation based in Canada, and Malta Mariculture Ltd.

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