China tests first practical submarine solar power plant at 10 metres depth in the open sea

In a breakthrough that could power the future of underwater operations, Chinese scientists have built and tested the world’s first submarine solar farm, successfully operating a perovskite-based photovoltaic system at a depth of 10 metres (33 feet) in the open sea.The submerged array charged batteries and powered a LED panel, proving that solar energy can be harvested even in the dim, blue-green twilight of the ocean.The achievement by a team from Yunnan University, published on September 11, in the journal Joule, overcomes a long-standing barrier: sunlight fades rapidly underwater, and conventional silicon solar cells are ill-suited to the narrow spectrum that remains.