Development of Offshore Floating Solar Farm
Zhiming Yuan
the University of Strathclyde, UK
Abstract: Floating photovoltaic (FPV) technology has grown rapidly worldwide, but most existing systems are designed for sheltered inland waters and remain unsuitable for harsh offshore environments. Offshore floating solar farms face significant challenges related to survivability, cost, and performance assessment under waves, wind, and currents. This talk will present recent developments in offshore floating solar technologies, with a particular focus on innovative flexible and modular concepts inspired by natural spider-web structures. By replacing conventional rigid platforms with large compliant systems, offshore solar farms can potentially achieve enhanced survivability while reducing material usage and installation costs. The talk will discuss key engineering challenges, hydrodynamic modelling approaches, and numerical investigations of flexible floating solar systems, providing new insights into the future development of offshore renewable energy infrastructure.
Biography: Zhiming Yuan is a Reader in the Department of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Marine Engineering at the University of Strathclyde. His research activity mainly focused on Hydrodynamics and Ocean Renewable Energy, and he has published more than 130 peer-reviewed journal articles on these areas. Dr Yuan is currently acting as the Executive Editor of Ocean Engineering, and the chairman of ITTC Maneuvering Committee. His research work has been widely reported by TheTimes, DailyMail, Today Headline, ScienceNews, 知识分子, etc. In 2022, he received the 32nd Ig Nobel Prize in the field of physics for “trying to understand why ducklings are swimming in formation”, and gave a public lectures at MIT. Dr Zhiming Yuan was elected as Fellow of RINA in 2024..
