Editor's Note: This article, from Celsias writer John P., originally ran on his blog View Tomorrow

A Swiss research and development company CSEM has been contracted by the United Arab Emirates to build a floating solar island. The plant will generate energy by concentrating sunlight onto water pipes. The pipes will convert water to steam, which can then be transferred to an onshore facility via tanker or pipeline, where it can be used to generate electricity and/or hydrogen.

The first stage of the project involves the development of a land based prototype in the deserts of the UAE. The prototype is one fifth the size that it's successor will be. It is being built at a cost of five million U.S. dollars, funded by the government of the UAE, and is around 100 meters in diameter.

The next sea based version is due to be in full production by 2011. It will be 500 meters in diameter. Eventually the platforms will reach 5 kilometers in diameter and will be capable of generating up to 1 Gigawatt of power. The entire platform will rest on a twenty meter high torus , that will also act as a steam storage receptacle. To ensure a maximum yield rate the platform will dynamically position itself towards the Sun using electric motors attached to it's circumference.

With 80% of the Earth's surface covered by water (most sunlight falls on the oceans) and the pressure on land in many countries increasing, it seems inevitable that solar energy production will move offshore in the future.