SOLUTION / PUBLIC SOURCE RECORD
Sunlit Sea creates next generation of floating solar panels
- Published 20 March 2023; updated 21 September 2026; estimated reading time 3 minutes. Explicitly marked “Under development”; the page says the company is building its fifth prototype. Listed under Energy.
- Sunlit Sea’s concept uses prefabricated strings of solar panels attached to aluminium floats. The strings are assembled and quality-checked in a controlled setting, packed in shipping containers, then transported and installed in nearshore water. The article says initial testing found assembly could be 17 times faster than current methods; this is an early company-reported result, not presented with independent validation.
- The company says offsite assembly can lower exposure to bad weather and reduce construction-phase financing/insurance costs. The design also uses selected materials, power electronics and data analysis; Sunlit Sea’s “marine grade” performance ratio is intended to measure solar efficiency in marine conditions and improve project bankability. The page says the low-profile panels can fit coastal urban/tourist settings and that offsite work can reduce worker exposure to construction hazards.
- The article describes floating solar as saving land and says water cooling can improve panel performance by up to 15%, but notes floating systems remain below 0.5% of global solar PV installations and face higher engineering/system costs and anchoring challenges. Its projection of over 300 floating-solar parks and 22% average annual growth was through 2024 and is historical.
- The article says Sunlit Sea was founded in 2019, piloting its product, and originally expected commercial availability in late 2022. This conflicts with the page’s current “under development” status and fifth-prototype note; commercial launch is not established by this page. It identifies Norway as the test market and Central America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia as promising markets.
- Linked to SDGs 7 (Affordable and clean energy) and 11 (Sustainable cities and communities).
- Contact: Per Lindberg, CEO, per@sunlitsea.no. Company: SUNLIT SEA AS, Grønnegata 10, 0350 Oslo, Norway; sunlitsea.no/about_us. A phone-number reveal control is present.