Vertical Bifacial Modules on Bavaria’s Jais Gravel Pit Redefine Land-Saving Renewable Energy. In 2025, German startup SINN Power successfully commissioned the world’s first vertical floating solar plant in Bavaria. This innovative project demonstrates how clean energy can be generated for hundreds of homes without occupying valuable land, utilizing less than 5% of the lake’s surface area while maintaining ecological balance.
Redefining Floating PV: The Skipp Float Technology
Unlike traditional floating solar arrays, the Bavarian plant utilizes SINN Power’s patented Skipp Float technology. Approximately 2,500 bifacial modules are mounted vertically in an East-West orientation, capturing sunlight during morning and late afternoon peaks. With a 1.87 MW capacity, the plant covers only 4.65% of the water surface. A keel-like substructure extending 1.6 meters below the waterline ensures stability against wind loads and water level fluctuations.
Economic Impact: Slashing Industrial Grid Reliance
For the Jais gravel operation, the floating plant is a strategic financial asset. Industrial processes are energy-intensive; since inauguration, the site has slashed its grid electricity draw by nearly 60%. As a second phase adds 1.7 MW of capacity, the share of self-generated power is expected to hit 70%, shielding the business from volatile market prices and significantly reducing its carbon footprint.
Ecological Synergy: Protecting the Lake Ecosystem
The vertical design leaves 4-meter-wide open water corridors, ensuring sunlight reaches the water column and air continues to circulate. Monitoring shows that schools of fish gather around submerged structures for shelter, while waterbirds utilize the floats as nesting sites. This partial shading also helps reduce evaporation, a critical benefit for the long-term stability of man-made reservoirs.
A Scalable Vision for the Future
With over 6,000 artificial lakes in Germany offering a potential capacity of up to 2.5 GW, vertical floating solar provides a scalable path forward for regional innovation. SINN Power is already looking beyond inland waters, with strategic plans to adapt the vertical concept for offshore applications in the open sea, marking the next chapter in marine renewable energy.
