Marine Photovoltaic Industry Development: A Review of its Impact on Aquatic Environmental Elements and Future Perspectives

作者：Zifan Fang, Peng Wang, Jingru Zhou, Haowei Xu, Kaixuan Zheng, Ngai Weng Chan, Jingchao Shi, Hao Shi, Xu Ma, Fei Zhang · 发表于：Environmental Management · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1007/s00267-025-02275-2 · 被引用次数：3 · 研究领域：Coastal and Marine Management、Mercury impact and mitigation studies、Ocean Acidification Effects and Responses

With renewables, marine photovoltaic (PV) harnessing solar energy gains momentum, promising vast ocean space for power generation with significant benefits.Recent studies indicate that while marine PV systems are designed to address environmental challenges, they can also cause unintended ecological consequences. Mitigating potential negative impacts on aquatic environments has therefore become a critical research priority. This study focuses on three key aspects of these environments: trace elements, water temperature, and aquatic organisms. It provides a critical review of the literature based on a systematic search and a bibliometric analysis of 406 relevant publications on marine PV systems. The main conclusions include the following: (1) The marine PV industry has huge development potentials, and the installed capacity is anticipated to grow by more than 22% annually. (2) In terms of trace elements in water, the installation of piled PV power station will inevitably disturb the underwater sediments, reducing the water's transparency and cause pollution to the water body;(3) In terms of water temperature, different PV layouts on the same water surface will produce diverse cumulative effects temporally and spatially. Consequently, PV power plant operations alter water temperature, thereby impacting seawater hydrology; and (4) In terms of aquatic organisms, PV plant deployment alters water light distribution, directly impacting phytoplankton and zooplankton abundance, verti...