MARIN and SolarDuck push boundaries with floating solar array tests
Conference/JournalMARIN Report 145
Date5 Dec 2025
In a groundbreaking collaboration, MARIN and the offshore solar pioneer SolarDuck have successfully completed high-precision stationkeeping tests of a 54-platform floating solar array, demonstrating the survivability in high sea states.
The tests, conducted in MARIN’s Offshore Basin, involved a 1:20 scale model of interconnected triangular platforms arranged in a HEX-3 configuration. This setup represents a real-world solar capacity of approximately 6 MWp. The project builds on earlier phases, which began with a single platform test and expanded to six platforms in a HEX-1 layout before reaching the current 54-platform array.
The tests, conducted in MARIN’s Offshore Basin, involved a 1:20 scale model of interconnected triangular platforms arranged in a HEX-3 configuration. This setup represents a real-world solar capacity of approximately 6 MWp. The project builds on earlier phases, which began with a single platform test and expanded to six platforms in a HEX-1 layout before reaching the current 54-platform array.
Contact
William Otto
senior project manager
Tests on multi-platform arrays at scale
This advanced tracking system enabled researchers to analyse critical factors such as wave shielding effects and inter-platform forces—key considerations for the structural integrity and performance of floating solar farms in offshore environments. The new optical motion tracking system proved to be sufficiently accurate to derive the inter-platform compression from the relative motions. In all tests, the compression stayed within the designed limits.
Steep wave response of interconnected platforms
High-precision testing of solar with solarduck
In collaboration with SolarDuck, MARIN tested a 1:20 scale model of a 54-platform floating solar array in its Offshore Basin. Using a new optical measurement system, the motion of each platform was tracked in detail — providing valuable insights into wave shielding, inter-platform forces, and offshore performance.