Floating solar explained

Floating solar or floating photovoltaics (FPV), sometimes called floatovoltaics, are solar panels mounted on a structure that floats on a body of water, typically a reservoir or a lake such as drinking water reservoirs, quarry lakes, irrigation canals or remediation and tailing ponds.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

The systems can have advantages over photovoltaics (PV) on land. Water surfaces may be less expensive than the cost of land, and there are fewer rules and regulations for structures built on bodies of water not used for recreation. Life cycle analysis indicates that foam-based FPV[6] have some of the shortest energy payback times (1.3 years) and the lowest greenhouse gas emissions to energy ratio (11 kg CO2 eq/MWh) in crystalline silicon solar photovoltaic technologies reported.[7]

Floating arrays can achieve higher efficiencies than PV panels on land because water cools the panels. The panels can have a special coating to prevent rust or corrosion.[8]

The market for this renewable energy technology has grown rapidly since 2016. The first 20 plants with capacities of a few dozen kWp were built between 2007 and 2013.[9] Installed power grew from 3 GW in 2020, to 13 GW in 2022,[10] surpassing a prediction of 10 GW by 2025.[11] The World Bank estimated there are 6,600 large bodies of water suitable for floating solar, with a technical capacity of over 4,000 GW if 10% of their surfaces were covered with solar panels.

The costs for a floating system are about 10-20% higher than for ground-mounted systems.[12] [13] [14] According to a researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), this increase is primarily due to the need for anchoring systems to secure the panels on water, which contributes to making floating solar installations about 25% more expensive than those on land.[15]

History

American, Danish, French, Italian and Japanese nationals were the first to register patents for floating solar. In Italy the first registered patent regarding PV modules on water goes back to February 2008.[16]

The first floating solar installation was in Aichi, Japan, in 2007, built by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology.[17]

In May 2008, the Far Niente Winery in Oakville, California, installed 994 solar PV modules with a total capacity of 175 kW onto 130 pontoons and floating them on the winery's irrigation pond.[18] Several small-scale floating PV farms were built over the next seven years. The first megawatt-scale plant was commissioned in July 2013 at Okegawa, Japan.

In 2016, Kyocera developed what was then the world's largest, a 13.4 MW farm on the reservoir above Yamakura Dam in Chiba Prefecture[19] using 50,000 solar panels.[20] [21] The Huainan plant, inaugurated in May 2017 in China, occupies more than on a former quarry lake, capable of producing up to .[22]

Salt-water resistant floating farms are also being constructed for ocean use.[23]

Floating solar panels are rising in popularity, in particular in countries where the land occupation and environmental impact legislations are hindering the rise of renewable power generation capabilities.

Global installed capacity passed 1 GW in 2018 and reached 13 GW in 2022, mostly in Asia. One project developer, Baywa r.e., reported another 28 GW of planned projects.

Installation

The construction process for a floating solar project includes installing anchors and mooring lines that attach to the waterbed or shore, assembling floats and panels into rows and sections onshore, and then pulling the sections by boat to the mooring lines and secured into place.

Advantages

There are several reasons for this development:

Disadvantages

Floating solar presents several challenges to designers:[42] [43] [44] [45]

Largest floating solar facilities

Floating photovoltaic power stations (5 MW and larger)[47] !PV power station!Location!Country!Nominal Power[48] (MWp)!Year!Notes
Anhui Fuyang Southern Wind-solar-storageFuyang, AnhuiChina6502023
Wenzhou Taihan Wenzhou, ZhejiangChina5502021[49]
ChangbingChanghuaTaiwan440[50] [51]
Dezhou DingzhuangDezhou, ShandongChina320+100 MW windpower[52]
CirataPurwakarta, West JavaIndonesia1922023+1000 MW hydroelectricity [53]
Three GorgesHuainan City, AnhuiChina1502019[54] [55]
NTPC Ramagundam (BHEL)Peddapalli, Telangana India145
Xinji HuainanXinji HuainanChina1022017
Yuanjiang YiyangYiyang, HunanChina1002019
NTPC KayamkulamKayamkulam, KeralaIndia92
CECEP Suzhou, AnhuiChina702019[56]
TengehSingapore602021[57] [58]
304 Industrial ParkPrachinburiThailand602023[59]
Huancheng JiningHuancheng JiningChina502018
Da Mi ReservoirBinh Thuan provinceVietnam47.52019[60]
Sirindhorn DamUbon RatchathaniThailand452021[61] [62]
Hapcheon DamSouth GyeongsangSouth Korea40[63]
Anhui GCLChina32[64]
HaBonim ReservoirMa'ayan TzviIsrael312023[65]
NTPC Simhadri (BHEL)Vizag, Andhra PradeshIndia25
Ubol Ratana DamKhon KaenThailand242024[66]
NTPC Kayamkulam (BHEL)Kayamkulam, KeralaIndia22[67]
Former sand pit siteGrafenwörthAustria24.52023[68]
Qintang GuigangGuping GuangxiChina202016
LazerHautes-AlpesFrance202023[69]
BurgataIsrael13.52022[70]
NJAW Canoe BrookMillburn, New JerseyUSA8.92022[71] [72]

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 4 September 2014 . Kyocera, partners announce construction of the world's largest floating solar PV Plant in Hyogo prefecture, Japan . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150924104333/http://www.solarserver.com/solar-magazine/solar-news/archive-2014/2014/kw36/kyocera-partners-announce-construction-of-the-worlds-largest-floating-solar-pv-plant-in-hyogo-prefecture-japan.html . 24 September 2015 . 11 June 2016 . SolarServer.com.
  2. Web site: 7 November 2013 . Running Out of Precious Land? Floating Solar PV Systems May Be a Solution . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20141226015351/http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/11/running-out-of-precious-land-floating-solar-pv-systems-may-be-a-solution . 26 December 2014 . 11 June 2016 . EnergyWorld.com.
  3. Web site: 13 January 2015 . Vikram Solar commissions India's first floating PV plant . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150302015428/http://www.solarserver.com/solar-magazine/solar-news/current/2015/kw03/vikram-solar-commissions-indias-first-floating-pv-plant.html . 2 March 2015 . SolarServer.com.
  4. Web site: 21 December 2014 . Sunflower Floating Solar Power Plant In Korea . live . http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160515091859/http://cleantechnica.com/2014/12/21/sunflower%2Dfloating%2Dsolar%2Dpower%2Dplant%2Dkorea/ . 15 May 2016 . 11 June 2016 . CleanTechnica.
  5. Web site: 5 May 2014 . Short Of Land, Singapore Opts For Floating Solar Power Systems . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160314151034/http://cleantechnica.com/2014/05/05/short-land-singapore-opts-floating-solar-power-systems/ . 14 March 2016 . 11 June 2016 . CleanTechnica.
  6. Mayville . Pierce . Patil . Neha Vijay . Pearce . Joshua M. . 2020-12-01 . Distributed manufacturing of after market flexible floating photovoltaic modules . Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments . en . 42 . 100830 . 10.1016/j.seta.2020.100830 . 225132653 . 2213-1388.
  7. Hayibo . Koami Soulemane . Mayville . Pierce . Pearce . Joshua M. . 2022-03-01 . The greenest solar power? Life cycle assessment of foam-based flexible floatovoltaics . Sustainable Energy & Fuels . en . 6 . 5 . 1398–1413 . 10.1039/D1SE01823J . 246498822 . 2398-4902.
  8. News: Goode . Erica . 2016-05-20 . New Solar Plants Generate Floating Green Power . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-01-25 . 0362-4331.
  9. 10.1002/pip.2466 . A review of floating photovoltaic installations: 2007-2013 . 2015 . Trapani . Kim . Redón Santafé . Miguel . Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications . 23 . 4 . 524–532 . 10251/80704 . 98460653 . free .
  10. News: 2023-08-03 . Floating Solar Panels Turn Old Industrial Sites Into Green Energy Goldmines . en . Bloomberg.com . 2023-08-03.
  11. Web site: Hopson (58da34776a4bb). Christopher. 2020-10-15. Floating solar going global with 10GW more by 2025: Fitch Recharge. 2021-10-18. Recharge Latest renewable energy news. en.
  12. Web site: Martín . José Rojo . BayWa r.e. adds to European floating solar momentum with double project completion . PV Tech . en . 2019-10-27 . 2019-11-11 . 2019-11-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191111154854/https://www.pv-tech.org/news/baywa-r.e.-adds-to-european-floating-solar-momentum-with-dual-finish . dead .
  13. Web site: 2023-05-10 . Long popular in Asia, floating solar catches on in US . 2023-05-11 . AP NEWS . en.
  14. Web site: Ludt . Billy . 2023-01-20 . Buoyant racking turns water into an ideal solar site . 2024-07-15 . Solar Power World . en-US.
  15. News: 2023-03-07 . How Floating Solar Panels Are Being Used to Power Electric Grids . 2024-04-21 . Bloomberg.com . en.
  16. M. Rosa-Clot and P. Rosa-Clot. 2008. Support and method for increasing the efficiency of solar cells by immersion. Italy Patent PI2008A000088.
  17. Web site: Inside the world's largest dam-based floating solar power project - Future Power Technology Magazine Issue 131 February 2021 . 2023-03-14 . power.nridigital.com . 22 February 2021 . en.
  18. Web site: 29 May 2008 . Winery goes solar with Floatovoltaics . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20130507150702/http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Winery-goes-solar-with-Floatovoltaics-3282171.php . 7 May 2013 . 31 May 2013 . SFGate.
  19. Web site: Yamakura Dam in Chiba Prefecture . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20150202002049/http://damnet.or.jp/cgi-bin/binranA/enAll.cgi?db4=0663 . 2 February 2015 . 1 February 2015 . The Japan Dam Foundation.
  20. http://global.kyocera.com/news/2014/1205_dfsp.html Kyocera and Century Tokyo Leasing to Develop 13.4MW Floating Solar Power Plant on Reservoir in Chiba Prefecture, Japan
  21. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/24/science/solar-power-floating-on-water.html New Solar Plants Generate Floating Green Power
  22. News: May 26, 2017 . The world's largest floating solar power plant has come into operation in China . mashable.france24.com . June 10, 2017.
  23. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2015/01/150116-floating-solar-power-japan-yamakura/ Solar Panels Floating on Water Could Power Japan's Homes
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  30. Hayibo . Koami Soulemane . Mayville . Pierce . Kailey . Ravneet Kaur . Pearce . Joshua M. . January 2020 . Water Conservation Potential of Self-Funded Foam-Based Flexible Surface-Mounted Floatovoltaics . Energies . en . 13 . 23 . 6285 . 10.3390/en13236285 . 1996-1073 . free .
  31. Choi, Y.-K. and N.-H. Lee . 2013 . Empirical Research on the efficiency of Floating PV systems compared with Overland PV Systems . Conference Proceedings of CES-CUBE.
  32. Web site: 27 December 2019 . Floating Solar On Pumped Hydro, Part 1: Evaporation Management Is A Bonus . CleanTechnica.
  33. Web site: 27 December 2019 . Floating Solar On Pumped Hydro, Part 2: Better Efficiency, But More Challenging Engineering . CleanTechnica.
  34. Choi, Y.K.. 2014. A study on power generation analysis on floating PV system considering environmental impact. Int. J. Softw. Eng. Appl.. 8. 75–84.
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  36. Pouran . Hamid M. . Padilha Campos Lopes . Mariana . Nogueira . Tainan . Alves Castelo Branco . David . Sheng . Yong . 2022-11-18 . Environmental and technical impacts of floating photovoltaic plants as an emerging clean energy technology . iScience . en . 25 . 11 . 105253 . 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105253 . 36281449 . 9587316 . 2589-0042. free . 2022iSci...25j5253P .
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  38. Jinyoung. Song. Yosoon. Choi. 2016-02-10. Analysis of the Potential for Use of Floating Photovoltaic Systems on Mine Pit Lakes: Case Study at the Ssangyong Open-Pit Limestone Mine in Korea. Energies. 9. 2. 102. en. 10.3390/en9020102. free .
  39. [World Bank Group]
  40. Rauf. Huzaifa. Gull. Muhammad Shuzub. Arshad. Naveed. 2019-02-01. Integrating Floating Solar PV with Hydroelectric Power Plant: Analysis of Ghazi Barotha Reservoir in Pakistan. Energy Procedia. Innovative Solutions for Energy Transitions. en. 158. 816–821. 10.1016/j.egypro.2019.01.214. 115606663. 1876-6102. free. 2019EnPro.158..816R .
  41. Raniero. Cazzaniga. Marco. Rosa-Clot. Paolo. Rosa-Clot. 2019-06-15. Integration of PV floating with hydroelectric power plants. Heliyon. 5. 6. e01918. en. 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e01918. free . 31294100 . 6595280 . 2019Heliy...501918C .
  42. https://sinovoltaics.com/technology/floating-solar-pv-systems-why-they-are-taking-off/ Floating Solar (PV) Systems: why they are taking off
  43. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/31880/Floating-Solar-Market-Report.pdf Where Sun Meets Water, FLOATING SOLAR MARKET REPORT
  44. https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/11/floating-solar-is-more-than-panels-on-a-platform-its-hydroelectrics-symbiont
  45. https://uk.news.yahoo.com/worlds-largest-floating-solar-plant-220000440.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAANHzwpIh9YDwm8P_KiYkauyfbu9nrkxke0RwpRYxHw-aLYs8vrosMVYwLFw8XK1_u2mKUk_x6O3gGbUYy7oIfccKI1Okzsw_-Y8pi0zxrQSNZA6KFts6n0PzQy3lZfztjyNBwJAVxXcurTCKDT2TnWSfQRSaG_Fz5H9JjQdTGECS
  46. Web site: Storm damages world's biggest floating solar plant in Madhya Pradesh . The Times of India . 15 April 2024.
  47. Web site: Top 50 Operational Floating Solar Projects . 2023-06-07 . SolarPlaza . en.
  48. Note that nominal power may be AC or DC, depending on the plant. See AC-DC conundrum: Latest PV power-plant ratings follies put focus on reporting inconsistency (update)
  49. Web site: Garanovic . Amir . 2021-12-20 . China connects 550MW combined floating solar and aquaculture project to power grid . 2023-08-16 . Offshore Energy . en-US.
  50. Web site: Changbing, TAIWAN . 2023-05-11 . Ciel et Terre . en-US.
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  62. Web site: Thailand's massive floating solar farm lays the foundation for its emission-free future . ZME Science . 10 March 2022.
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  65. Web site: Largue . Pamela . 2023-09-13 . Israel's Teralight inaugurates 31MW floating solar project . 2023-09-18 . Power Engineering International . en-US.
  66. Web site: 2024-03-06 . Hydro-floating Solar Hybrid at Ubol Ratana Dam starts commercial operation, driving Thailand toward Carbon Neutrality . https://web.archive.org/web/20240323101446/https://www.egat.co.th/home/en/20240306e/ . 2024-03-23 . 2024-03-23 . EGAT - Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand.
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