Review of Barriers to FPV Deployment in Southeast Asia

The countries of Southeast Asia (SE Asia) are seeing rapid energy sector transitions, setting ambitious renewable energy (RE) goals, and, increasingly, exploring floating solar photovoltaic (FPV) and its potential benefits to diversify their energy mixes. To meet these ambitious goals, as well as growing energy demand, the countries in the region will likely require significant amounts of new RE capacity. FPV systems may play a significant role in RE deployment in the region, while providing additional economic, societal, and environmental benefits. Recent work has identified the potential benefits of FPV systems to include lower land acquisition and site preparation costs, improved solar PV performance, and reduced capital costs when FPV is co-located with hydropower. Despite growing interest in and literature on FPV systems, NREL’s and USAID’s understanding of the policy landscape, including the opportunities and barriers to FPV deployment, remains limited.

The purpose of this report is to address this gap by:

1. Detailing potential barriers to FPV deployment with a focus on economic, environmental, cultural, regulatory, and technical barriers

2. Discussing best practices that may support FPV deployment.

To read the full report by NREL and USAID, please click here