Hybrid floating solar photovoltaics-hydropower systems: Benefits and global assessment of technical potential

Nathan Lee, Ursula Grunwald, Evan Rosenlieb, Heather Mirletz, Alexandra Aznar, Robert Spencer and Sadie Cox

Renewable Energy, 2020, vol. 162, issue C, 1415-1427

Abstract: Floating solar photovoltaics (FPV) is an emerging, and increasingly viable, application of photovoltaics (PV) in which systems are sited directly on waterbodies. Despite growing market interest, FPV system deployment is nascent, and potential adopters remain concerned about the technology, the benefits it offers, the advantages to pairing it in hybrid systems (such as with hydropower), and how to analyze technical potential. To support decision making, we provide a review of associated benefits of hybrid FPV-hydropower system operation and a novel, geospatial approach to assess the global technical potential of these systems employing publicly available, global datasets. We identify significant potential globally for FPV hybridized with hydropower ranging from 3.0 TW to 7.6 TW (4,251 TWh to 10,616 TWh annual generation), based on the assumptions made. We detail operational benefits that these hybrid systems may provide that could be quantified in future modeling and/or analyses of existing or planned hybrid systems.

Keywords: Floating solar; FPV; Hydropower; Hybrid; Photovoltaics; Technical potential (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (30)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:162:y:2020:i:c:p:1415-1427

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2020.08.080

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