After last week’s article on the use of flexible thin-film modules in the Solar@Sea II floating solar pilot project in the Netherlands, we had a chat with Wim Soppe, a senior scientist at research firm TNO and the project’s manager. The project is a pilot for an offshore solar concept, but is located in a nearshore artificial lake with brackish water. The first question to address is of course – what changes does thin film enable compared to other offshore floating approaches? Soppe explained that the thin-film modules only weigh 2.5 kilograms per square meter and have a very low wind profile because they are positioned horizontally. Further, the flexible floaters take up little wave energy since they mold to…