With their extensive ambitions, Sunlit Sea is a central player in the field of floating solar power. A glance at the evolution they have undergone across their entire technology stack supports this.
A team from KodeWorks has been central to this development, and is today working on segments like hardware design and software development for monitoring, maintenance and optimization of power production. Rune in KodeWorks has worked on the electronics and sensorics of the float modules, and shares his experience in Sunlit Sea
In Sunlit Sea, I’ve gotten the chance to discover solutions to problems. I’m not just implementing a function to satisfy a unit test, but instead I get to solve real problems, which requires me to utilize my full professional knowledge. I’m quite simply an inventor, producing real stuff. Here, I’m free to explore possible solutions and together with my colleagues, we find out how to e. g. establish a data stream of moisture measurements from the inside of a metal construction.
As co-founder of Sunlit Sea, KodeWorks has been part of the picture from the very beginning, in 2019. As a startup with huge ambitions, and in a demanding, interdisciplinary field that has yet to mature, there are a number of challenges that need to be overcome in order to write a success story.
As co-founder of Sunlit Sea, KodeWorks has been part of the picture from the very beginning, in 2019.
Sunlit Sea has on several occasions worked with KodeWorks on this, and we have contributed in a broad range of areas. From 3D renderings of production and deployment, and a website with Sunlit Sea’s Smart Quoter service, down to the sensor- and communication electronics put on every module, KodeWorks has designed and implemented necessary solutions from the ground up.
Through a collaborative partnership and mutual knowledge sharing, KodeWorks has been essential for Sunlit Sea’s technological edge.
In Sunlit Sea, I am solely accountable for the quality of the solutions I develop, and there is a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of each developer. There is no relying on other team members to catch weaknesses in my solutions, unless I specifically ask for a peer review of the systems. We all simply have to identify possible weaknesses in the systems and procedures that we develop, and ensure that more than one set of eyes are scanning it all for flaws.
The engineering solutions that make up the base for the solar module, must meet requirements that evolve as the product moves towards the commercialization stage. That also applies for the processing and presentation of collected sensor data, and the use of data for further prediction of performance and behavior in various environments. This goes on in parallel with how Sunlit Sea pushes forward in competitiveness and scaling of production.
Before Sunlit Sea, I had little experience with how to define systems and procedures for getting the production of an actual product up and running. It has been very interesting to learn what works when designing a handful of prototypes, and what needs to be changed when moving towards mass production of the same product. An extremely important tool I keep in my mental toolbox is the ability to design a product in a way that allows a factory to produce it, without me being involved in the actual production.
Broad and documentable domain expertise is important in a relatively young industry. For the purpose of extending specific domain knowledge, Sunlit Sea today works towards identifying the performance ratio of the solar panels in different sea states given a set of waves, in a collaboration between KodeWorks and IFE to combine historical weather data with bespoke sensorics and processing technology. This work is part of state-of-the-art research within the field, and is laying the foundation for speveral scientific publications from IFE.
KodeWorks continues to develop solutions for Sunlit Sea, and looks forward to collaborating on solving many exciting challenges in the future.
