The set-up includes solar charge controllers and a battery monitor, which will help provide power for the systems remote monitoring capabilities.
The Kyoto-based group specially designed the solar panels for long-term use in marine and coastal environments.
The so-called NOMAD sea buoy essentially, an aluminum boat with PV modules and a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) will gather information on water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, phytoplankton density and sensor depth.
The new NOMAD sea buoy is able to take the pulse of a specific area in the ocean, Kyocera said in an online statement.
The system, which was installed by Florida-based eMarine Systems at the 100-acre Catalina Sea Ranch, includes IoT sensors that wirelessly upload real-time marine data to the cloud, allowing government agencies and scientists to carry out web-based analysis of the ocean.
It remains unclear whether Kyoceras corrosion-resistant PV modules, which have been IEC-certified by TÜV Rheinland, could be used in floating PV installations.
The company which plans to eventually install 60MW of floating PV capacity throughout Japan started building a 13.7MW array on a reservoir east of Tokyo earlier this year, following the completion of several smaller floating projects in the country.
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