AI data centers on floating solar panels at sea

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San Francisco startup NetworkOcean has put OASIS-00 on the water in San Francisco Bay, a 20 kW floating solar array of sixteen floats that powers an Nvidia H100 GPU in a data center container aboard its support vessel. The Y Combinator-backed company, which pitched underwater data centers in 2024, plans a 1 MW array in 2027 and says it wants to be able to deploy a gigawatt of solar a week by 2030.

AI data centers can’t get power fast enough on land. So this startup wants to put them on the ocean, running on floating solar.

This is OASIS-00, NetworkOcean’s first test array: sixteen floats in a four by four grid, on San Francisco Bay near the Bay Bridge.

Together they make 20 kilowatts, powering an Nvidia H100 AI chip in a data center container aboard their support boat.

But why the ocean?

Speed, for one.

The world shipped about 700 gigawatts of solar panels last year, while new gas turbines are booked up for years.

NetworkOcean projects floating solar can get power flowing in about six months.

And the sea doubles as the air conditioner. The company says seawater cooling gets 22% more compute out of every watt, since less power goes into cooling.

The Y Combinator-backed startup was pitching underwater data centers back in 2024, and got a warning from Bay regulators over permits.

Next up is a 1 megawatt array in 2027. By 2030, it wants to be able to deploy a gigawatt of solar every week.

Storms, saltwater and cloudy days will be the real test. But the first chip is already running on the water.

AI data centers on floating solar panels at sea

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