For owners of ponds, lagoons, reservoirs & industrial parks
Floating Solar
The power plant that needs no land.
Anchored PV islands on ponds, beels and industrial lagoons — engineered for monsoon water-level swings and cyclone-season winds, and cooled by the water they float on.
- Project size
- 500 kWp – 50 MWp
- Yield vs ground-mount
- +5–10%
- Water surface
- ~1.2 ha/MWp
- Land required
- Zero acres
Why it fits Bangladesh
A country short of land and long on water.
Ground-mount solar needs about 3.5 acres per MWp — land that in Bangladesh is almost always farmland, homestead or fishery. Water bodies are the largest unused surface most sites have.
- Ground-mount
- ~35 acres of land
- Floating
- 0 acres · ~12 ha of water surface
0acres
No land taken out of production
A 10 MWp ground-mount park needs around 35 acres. On water, the same plant leaves every acre of crops and homesteads where it is.
+5–10%
Cooler modules, more kWh
Evaporative cooling keeps cell temperatures lower in the 35 °C pre-monsoon months, when PV output normally drops the most.
~1.2ha per MWp
Ponds, beels, haors and lagoons
Fish ponds, treated-water lagoons, reservoirs and seasonal wetlands already exist across the country. Partial coverage turns them into generation without draining or filling them.
≤ 1km to load
Water that sits beside the load
Industrial lagoons and reservoirs are often within a kilometre of the factory, town or substation that needs the power — short cable runs, low losses.
How it works
Floats, moorings and a cable that rides the water.
Every island rises and falls with the seasons. The engineering challenge is keeping it in place — and the cable intact — through a monsoon swing of several metres.
- 1Bifacial glass-glass modulesPID-resistant, IP68 junction boxes, mounted at 10–12° tilt to shed rain and dust.
- 2HDPE float pontoonsUV-stabilised, food-grade HDPE with a 25-year design life; no coatings in contact with water.
- 3Walkway floatsMaintenance access between rows for cleaning, thermography and connector checks.
- 4Elastic mooring linesPre-tensioned elastic lines keep the island on station as the water level rises and falls.
- 5Bed anchorsDeadweight concrete blocks on soft sediment, helical or driven piles where the bed is firm.
- 6Floating cable trayDC/AC cables carried on buoyant trays with slack loops, so level change never pulls a connector.
- 7Shore inverter stationInverters and transformer on the bank, above the highest recorded flood level.
- 8Seasonal level rangeDesigned for the full dry-season-to-monsoon swing surveyed at the site — 2.8 m at Mymensingh.
Site requirements
What your water body needs to host a plant.
Most industrial lagoons and large ponds qualify. A two-day bathymetry and water-level survey confirms it.
Qualifying checklist
- At least 0.6 ha of open water for a 500 kWp system
- Minimum 1.5 m depth at dry-season low water
- Documented seasonal level swing (flood marks or records)
- Title, lease or usage rights to the water surface
- Grid connection or captive load within about 1 km of the bank
- No navigation channel or active netting across the array area
- Bank access for float assembly and launch
- Water pH between 6 and 9, no heavy industrial effluent
| Water body | |
|---|---|
| Surface coverage | Up to 40–60% of the water surfaceSet by ecology and water-use study |
| Depth | ≥ 1.5 m at lowest level |
| Level variation | Up to ~4 m accommodatedElastic mooring sized to surveyed range |
| Structure | |
| Floats | HDPE, UV-stabilised, 25-year design life |
| Anchoring | Deadweight blocks, helical piles or bank anchorsSelected from bathymetry and bed survey |
| Wind design | Site basic wind speed per BNBC 2020Cyclone-zone sites checked for storm surge |
| Electrical | |
| Modules | Bifacial glass-glass, PID-resistant |
| Cabling | Floating cable tray with slack loops, IP68 DC connectors |
| Inverters | String inverters on shore, IP66Transformer above highest flood level |
| Earthing | Equipotential bonding across all islands |
Indicative design basis. Every value is confirmed by bathymetry, level history and a bed survey before layout.
Yield advantage
More energy from every kWp installed.
Water keeps modules cooler. The gain is largest from March to October, exactly when heat drags down ground-mount output.
- Annual specific yield gain
- +8.2%
- kWh per kWp, per year
- 1,496 vs 1,383
Monthly specific yield, kWh/kWp
Floating array against a fixed-tilt ground-mount reference using the same modules. The shaded band is the water-cooling gain.
- Ground-mount reference
- Floating, water-cooled
- Capex vs ground-mount
- +10–15%
- Floats and mooring, offset by zero land cost
- Typical payback
- 5–7 years
- Captive use at industrial tariff
- Commercial model
- Capex or PPA
- Pay upfront or buy the units
Environmental considerations
Built to share the water, not take it over.
Water bodies support fisheries, irrigation and wildlife. Each project is scoped with a baseline study and a DoE environmental clearance.
- 01
Water quality
RiskLeaching from floats or cleaning chemicals.
ApproachFood-grade HDPE, no antifouling coatings, water-only module cleaning.
- 02
Light & oxygen
RiskToo much shade reduces dissolved oxygen and aquatic plant life.
ApproachCoverage capped by study, open channels between islands, dissolved-oxygen monitoring.
- 03
Fisheries & livelihoods
RiskLoss of access for fishing or aquaculture.
ApproachCommunity consultation, access corridors and co-use layouts with pond operators.
- 04
Monsoon & cyclones
RiskIsland drift or damage in extreme water levels and wind.
ApproachMooring designed to surveyed flood range, pre-storm inspections and remote alarms.
- 05
Clearance
RiskProjects stalled by incomplete permitting.
ApproachIEE / EIA prepared for DoE clearance before any float is launched.
- 06
End of life
RiskFloat and module waste after 25 years.
ApproachHDPE floats are recyclable; decommissioning plan agreed at contract stage.
Mymensingh · January 2026
Pilot project
1.2 MWp floating solar pilot on an industrial lagoon
- Result
- +8.2%
- yield vs ground-mount
- Sector
- Industrial
- Client
- Agro-processing group
The challengeNo free land beside the plant, but a 3-hectare treated-water lagoon with 2.8 m seasonal level swing.
The resultWater cooling delivers an 8.2% specific-yield gain against a nearby ground-mount reference array.
FAQ
What owners ask before they float a plant
Fish, floods, cyclones and cost — answered by the engineers who design the moorings.
Ask an engineerFree · no obligation
Have a pond, lagoon or reservoir? Let's measure it.
Our survey team maps depth, level history and grid access, then tells you in writing how many MWp your water can carry.
What you receive
- 01Bathymetry & water-level review
- 02Array layout and mooring concept
- 03Yield forecast and payback period