Clearwater advisory board hears floating-solar briefing as city weighs solar projects and federal grant uncertainty

Stetson Chubidjian, managing director for D3 Energy, gave a technical briefing on floating photovoltaic (PV) systems to the City of Clearwater Environmental Advisory Board on Feb. 19 and described the technology's use on inland stormwater and retention ponds.

Chubidjian said floating arrays use the same panels and electrical equipment as rooftop or ground-mounted solar but are racked on high-density polyethylene floats. "They're all built on shore, and then kind of built row by row, and fed out into the water," he said, adding that the systems can be anchored to withstand wind and varying water levels and that, in tests, some floating arrays showed a 5 to 15 percent increase in energy production because the panels stay cooler over water.

The presentation addressed common environmental and operational questions. Chubidjian cited a white paper and site monitoring done on projects in Florida and California and said researchers found "minimal adverse effects to wildlife species," that fish often migrated underneath arrays and that some sites reported reduced algae and evaporation. He also said operation-and-maintenance costs can be equal to or lower than ground systems because floating arrays avoid land-management costs such as mowing and fencing.

Board members and residents asked whether the technology fits residential settings, coastal waters or recreational lakes, and where municipalities in the region have explored it. Chubidjian said the company's projects in Florida were primarily commercial or utility scale and that Pinellas County and municipal entities such as Orange County and the City of Orlando have discussed or piloted floating PV. He said offshore deployment presents additional technical and environmental challenges and that D3 had focused on inland bodies of water in Florida.

Resident Brian Beckman reported separate tracking of city solar permits and told the board Clearwater hit the 2,000th permit/installation mark in mid-February; "I think 2,001 is what it actually is," he said, and noted the list included the city's large installation at its waste-transfer station. Board members said mapping permit locations could help target funding for low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.

Cassie Cordova, city staff, briefed the board later in the meeting about federal funding uncertainty affecting local energy projects. Cordova said three Department of Energy (DOE) awards linked to city or regional work are affected by DOE executive orders issued after the awards were proposed. She identified: the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) award that funded four city electric vehicles (two of which arrived), an Energy Futures grant (regional electric-mobility roadmap) that remains unsigned and "on hold," and a FY23 congressional directed spending award for municipal solar that stalled amid Buy America/Build America compliance questions and later DOE guidance and waivers. "They're not communicating with us now," she said of DOE responses on the unsigned awards.

Board members discussed local candidate sites mentioned by staff and presenters, including stormwater retention ponds, municipal reservoirs, large condominium stormwater basins and the city's solid-waste transfer station. Chubidjian said floating PV can be sized to allow arrays to float up in ponds that are dry much of the year and can be anchored using ballasted blocks where penetrating anchors are not allowed.

The board did not take formal action on floating PV at the meeting. Members asked staff to share follow-up information about county-level pilots and potential next steps for municipal projects if grant funding becomes available.

Because the presentation included operational examples and references to local grant programs, the board asked D3 and city staff to remain available for technical follow-up.