French startup unveils new floating PV tech based on aluminum
HeliosLite has developed new aluminum floaters that can be assembled and deployed at an on-site mini factory. It presented a prototype PV system based on the new floating tech this week in southern France.
October 11, 2024 Marie Beyer
From pv magazine France
Enercoop Aura, Araymond, and Helioslite have jointly inaugurated the Coeur de Savoie floating solar power plant in France.
This 260 kW demonstrator features a new aluminum floating structure that minimizes its footprint on water, while also minimizing material needs. The floats and anchors were assembled on-site using a mobile micro-factory.
Helioslite, a French startup known for innovative solar trackers, developed the concept three years ago in partnership with Araymond. The HeliosFloat technology, now protected by an international patent, is marketed under an exclusive 11-year licensing agreement with Araymond.
“The principle is to manufacture the aluminum floats on site using a mobile micro-factory, thereby reducing the impacts related to transport,” Quentin Rabut, director of the floating PV business line at Araymond, told pv magazine France.
The compact aluminum coils are transported to the site for transformation, minimizing “transporting air” and reducing on-site storage needs. Additionally, manufacturing the float tubes on-site decreases the footprint along the bank during the construction phase.
“This is a floating structure made of non-flammable aluminum that is more than 94% recyclable,” said Rabut. “The custom-made approach makes it a modular solution that allows the size of the panels and the tilt angles to be varied “and therefore to adapt to the site to achieve the highest possible energy density.”
The infrastructure minimizes its water footprint to navigable paths instead of pedestrian routes for maintenance. “This structure is less opaque and should have less impact on the aquatic environment,” said Emilien Boucher, coordinator of Enercoop Aura Production services overseeing the project. However, confirming this remains crucial, as feedback on floating photovoltaics is still limited.
For Enercoop Aura, which funded the project, floating photovoltaics represents an opportunity to develop new areas and, through the energy supplier Enercoop, offer low-cost electricity to consumers.
“In addition, many bodies of water belong to communities, and it is interesting to make them regional development projects, combining several activities,” said the company's project engineer, Emilien Boucher. “The objective is, from now on, both to monitor the operation, maintenance, and associated costs, but also to work to optimize the costs of this solution with a view to deploying it on other sites from 1 MW of power, which means 4 times the size of the demonstrator.”
Boucher also explained that Enercoop expects to replicate the projects in the coming months, “targeting a larger size in order to achieve a levelized cost of energy between €80 and €85 per MWh.”