Floating Solar Panels Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product (Tracking Floating Solar Panels, Stationary Floating Solar Panels), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2020 - 2027

Report Overview

The global floating solar panels market demand was 615.2 MW in 2019 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28.9% from 2020 to 2027. Increasing focus towards clean fuel power generation energy sources, coupled with the insufficiency of land area, will boost the market growth during the projected period. Regulatory boards across the world are setting up several targets related to clean energy, which will help to control the pollution level. Global warming and the rapid depletion of fossil fuels instigated by their usage have shifted the global attention to green energy resources from conventional sources of energy. Changing preferences for power generation from renewable sources of energy, such as solar and wind, various government initiatives to promote solar energy, high energy demand, and increased investments in renewable energy are some of the major factors expected to boost the growth of the market. Besides, cost-effective nature, growing networks of solar installers, and reductions in technology prices are projected to propel the market growth.

The U.S. market is anticipated to witness substantial growth in the years to come owing to its protruding growth rate on account of strong federal schemes that include rising demand across the public and private sectors for green electricity and solar investment tax credit. As per the Solar Energy Industries Association, in 2019, the United States solar industry generated an investment of USD 18.0.

Strict regulations to limit GHG emissions will propel market growth over the forecast period. In 2016, the Government of China under its 13th 5-year plan had introduced its plans to lessen the emission level to 18% by 2020. Low to high capacity scalability, adaptability to any electrical configuration, easy to dismantle and assemble, and least requirement of heavyweight equipment in the manufacturing of solar panels are some of the features, which undoubtedly expand the business scope.

Rapid reduction in fossil fuel reserves has formed a need for the utilization of renewable sources of power generation. Solar energy has emerged as one of the fastest-growing renewable sources of energy owing to the easy system installation and the presence of an ample amount of sunlight across the globe, further leading to the growth of the market. Advantages associated with the setting up of floating panels on comparing with conventional plants are likely to propel the growth.

Demand for floating solar panels in countries susceptible to famine is projected to observe substantial growth over the projection period as the installation of these solar PV cells on water bodies decelerates the algal growth rate and reduces the evaporation rate, which, in turn, preserves the purity level of water.

In Japan, the adoption of floating panels is high as the country is densely populated with truncated availability of land for the installation of solar farms. Moreover, lack of natural resources, along with dependence of the country on renewable sources of energy for power generation for meeting its requirement of energy, is likely to fuel market growth.

However, the Covid-19 outbreak is assessed to hinder the floating solar panel supply chain. The pandemic is expected to result in growing panel prices with manufacturers facing material supply shortages, stagnant international trading impacting the export market, and labor shortages. Delay in project execution due to disturbance in the supply chain will further hamper the industry growth.

Product Insights

Based on the product type, the market is segregated as tracking floating solar panels and stationary floating solar panels. The stationary floating solar panel product type accounted for the largest revenue share of 80.2% in 2019 owing to its cost advantages associated with the technology in comparison to its counterparts. The cost of installation of a stationary floating solar panel is lesser as compared to the tracking floating solar panel owing to its usage of low cost and high strength elastic for the construction of the panels.

Growing investments in the manufacturing and installation of solar panels in developing nations that are stable, durable, and dependable nature of solar tracking technology with fewer maintenance costs are projected to boost the demand over the upcoming years. Tracking solar panels are highly competitive owing to their capability to trail the sunlight, which expands the operational productivity of the system.

Growing penetration of tracking solar technology in floating solar farms due to superior operational productivity is expected to have a positive influence on the demand side. However, the high maintenance of tracking solar panels as compared to the maintenance of stationary floating solar panels farms owing to their moving parts is likely to detain the segment growth over the upcoming years.  

Regional Insights

Asia Pacific accounted for the largest revenue share of 74.3% in 2019. In Japan, the level of penetration of the floating solar panels is high due to its less availability of land, along with a limited amount of fossil fuels. As a result, the government has authorized several plans for floating panels to meet the growing electricity consumption with lesser damage to the environment.

In the APAC region, the penetration of the floating solar technology is expected to surge owing to its high market potential. Besides, decrease in solar panel cost in the region, coupled with growing awareness of floating solar technology, is anticipated to endorse growth over the upcoming years. For instance, in 2018, KYOCERA Corporation of Japan started its operation at Japan’s largest 13.7 MW floating solar panel plant.

The market for floating solar panels is likely to grow in developed countries, like France, Germany, the U.S., and Canada, owing to its regulations aspects that are sponsoring the usage of solar energy for power generation. Besides, factors such as the ability to float solar technology to decline the effect of evaporation and land availability are likely to boost product demand. The installation of floating solar farms reduces the rate of evaporation, which, in turn, assists in cutting the prospect of drought in locations with high temperatures, such as central states of the United States.

The shortage of land space for setting up ground-mounted PV cells in some countries will inspire market growth. For instance, Singapore with a land area of over 700 Km2 (270 sq. miles) for over 5.70 million population is working agitatedly to efficiently utilize its areas for the deployment of new floating solar panels.  

Key Companies & Market Share Insights

The global floating solar panels industry is characterized by intense competition owing to the presence of major industries across the regions as these companies are fairly concentrated and highly competitive. Kyocera is the biggest market player among the major players owing to the global presence and a large number of distributors. The key strategies implemented by the major industry participants include research & development initiatives and product innovation. Ciel & Terre is one of the biggest installers in the market. The company operates in almost all parts of the world with a well-established track record of over 180 floating solar PV farms. The company has installed more than fifty percent of the total number of floating solar panel farms present across the world. Moreover, the company is the utmost active participant in the industry and has up to date technical solutions. Companies are investing subsequently in research and development to maintain effective technological costs with high dependability index. The existence of certain global players is persuading the local and small players to simply expand their business forte across the regions. Some of the prominent players in the floating solar panels market include:

• Sulzer Ltd.

• KYOCERA Corporation

• Trina Solar

• Yellow Tropus Pvt. Ltd.

• Wuxi Suntech Power Co., Ltd.

• Yingli Solar

• Ciel & Terre International

• LONGi Solar

• JA SOLAR Technology Co. Ltd.

• Hanwha Group

• Vikram Solar Limited

• GCL-SI

• Talesun

• Pristine Sun Corp.

• Sharp Corporation

Floating Solar Panels Market Report Scope

Segments Covered in the Report

This report forecasts volume and revenue growth at the global, regional, and country levels and provides an analysis of the latest industry trends and opportunities in each of the sub-segments from 2016 to 2027. For the purpose of this study, Grand View Research has segmented the global floating solar panels market report on the basis of product and region:

• Product Outlook (Installed Capacity, MW; Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

  • Tracking Floating Solar Panels

  • Stationary Floating Solar Panels

• Regional Outlook (Installed Capacity, MW; Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2027)

  • North America

    • The U.S.

  • Europe

  • Asia Pacific

    • China

    • India

    • Japan

    • South Korea

  • Central & South America

  • The Middle East & Africa