L R AS Published on Saturday 10 February 2024 - n° 475 - Categories:floating power plant
How can a floating solar power plant be improved over a land-based plant?
What characteristics does a floating solar power plant need to have in order to optimise its production compared with a ground-based plant?
Researchers in Malaysia and India have analysed the effect of height, angle of inclination, wind speed, ambient temperature and water temperature on the efficiency and output of floating solar PV (FPV) compared with a conventional ground-mounted solar system.
"Studying the impact of height and tilt angle on the temperature drop of solar panels placed in water is crucial," they said. "The comparative NOCT PV model (which is the nominal operating cell temperature) provides the basis for comparison and analysis that resembles cooling provided by wind alone. Whereas in a FPV, the cooling is the combined contribution of wind and water. "
Analysis of the various parameters showed that the optimum design for the FPV was a 0-degree tilt angle with a height of 1500 mm to achieve maximum cooling. With this design, the FPV is 4.33° C cooler than the NOCT PV in comparison. FPVs perform better than NOCT PVs with tilt angles below 45 degrees, regardless of height, while NOCT PVs achieve comparatively lower cell temperatures when the tilt angle is greater than 55 degrees.
The researchers used a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation for a 2D solar PV module using a finite volume approach. They carried out several simulations using different combinations of parameters. Wind and water temperatures were varied between 20 and 40 degrees Celsius, while wind speed was varied from 1 m/s to 5 m/s. The analysis also used six different heights - ranging from 250 mm to 3,000 mm - and six different angles of inclination between 0 degrees and 75 degrees.
The researchers observed that an angle of inclination greater than 55 degrees provided a high wind speed that favoured high heat transfer. They found that the reduction in temperature due to wind in a PV NOCT exceeded that for a FPV "for a higher height and angle of inclination".
The results are available in the report "Design study on the parameters influence the performance of floating solar PV", published in Renewable Energy. They are available in the following two articles:
https://www.qualenergia.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/1-s2.0-S0960148124001290-main.pdf
The article above can be found at https://www.pv-magazine.com/2024/02/08/the-effect-of-height-tilt-angle-and-temperatures-on-floating-pv-performance/
PV Magazine of 8 February 2024
