Swimsol, an Austria-headquartered marine floating solar provider for Maldivian resorts, has commissioned a 2.4 MW floating array at the resort island of Cheval Blanc Randheli, enabling the property to run entirely on solar power during daylight hours.

The company says it is the largest floating solar array in the Maldives.

“The project relies on our SolarSea platform, which has been developed over 15 years through a combination of physical scale models, basin testing, 3D simulations, and real-world prototyping,” a spokesperson from Swimsol’s engineering team told pv magazine. “For long-term durability in marine conditions, we use specialized aluminium alloys and stainless steel for the platform structure, with galvanized steel and sacrificial anodes for the mooring system. Solar modules are mounted more than 1.5 m above the water line, which prevents wave impact damage and biofouling on the panels themselves.”

The team explained it used specially designed anchors suited to sandy seabeds, with a minimal footprint compared to gravity or concrete block systems. Most mooring components sit mid-water, the spokesperson said, while pre-tension buoys and bespoke damping elements are used to prevent shock loads.

In addition, the company deployed double-glass modules with high-quality connectors, appropriate encapsulation materials and sealed junction boxes.

“The system is controlled by a programmable logic controller (PLC). Battery inverters start the medium-voltage transformer, connect to solar inverters, synchronize to the grid, and run in parallel with diesel generators in virtual synchronous generator (VSG) mode to maintain grid stability,” the spokesperson said. “Once sufficient energy is stored and solar meets demand, generator load is reduced and units are shut down via dry contact. When solar exceeds demand, excess energy charges the battery; if full, solar output is curtailed to match load.”

The 2.4 MW Cheval Blanc Randheli installation is projected to save the resort about $1.5 million per year in diesel costs. The break-even diesel price for SolarSea systems typically sits between $0.65 and $0.85 per litre, Swimsol said. With battery storage included in newer projects, the break-even point shifts toward the upper end of that range, well below current diesel prices in the Maldives.

“When we installed our first prototype in 2014, there were a lot of very valid questions about whether it would last. More than a decade later, those early platforms are still producing,” said Martin Putschek, founder and CEO of Swimsol. “The 2.4 MW system at Cheval Blanc proves it works at scale. Multiple SolarSea projects are now completed, with many more underway across the Maldives, Seychelles and other island nations.”