The recent boom in solar photovoltaics has intensified global competition for land use. Water-surface photovoltaics (WSPV) has also increased globally as an efficient alternative to land-based photovoltaics. Determining the spatio-temporally distribution of WSPVs is essential for estimating renewable energy capacity, evaluating the associated socio-environmental impacts, and managing and planning WSPV projects. However, a comprehensive inventory of WSPV locations and extent on the global scale is still lacking. To address these issues, we developed a workflow for identifying WSPVs using time-series optical satellite images and generated the first global-scale WSPV inventory map, with overall accuracy exceeding 96%.