Comparison of Electric Power Output Observed and Estimated from Floating Photovoltaic Systems: A Case Study on the Hapcheon Dam, Korea

Jangwon Suh, Yonghae Jang and Yosoon Choi
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Jangwon Suh: Department of Energy and Mineral Resources Engineering, Kangwon National University, Samcheok 25913, Korea
Yonghae Jang: Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-Water), Daejeon 34045, Korea
Yosoon Choi: Department of Energy Resources Engineering, Pukyong National University, Busan 48513, Korea

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: An interest in floating photovoltaic (PV) is growing drastically worldwide. To evaluate the feasibility of floating PV projects, an accurate estimation of electric power output (EPO) is a crucial first step. This study estimates the EPO of a floating PV system and compares it with the actual EPO observed at the Hapcheon Dam, Korea. Typical meteorological year data and system design parameters were entered into System Advisor Model (SAM) software to estimate the hourly and monthly EPOs. The monthly estimated EPOs were lower than the monthly observed EPOs. This result is ascribed to the cooling effect of the water environment on the floating PV module, which makes the floating PV efficiency higher than overland PV efficiency. Unfortunately, most commercial PV software, including the SAM, was unable to consider this effect in estimating EPO. The error results showed it was possible to estimate the monthly EPOs with an error of less than 15% (simply by simulation) and 9% (when considering the cooling effect: 110% of the estimated monthly EPOs). This indicates that the approach of using empirical results can provide more reliable estimation of EPO in the feasibility assessment stage of floating PV projects. Furthermore, it is necessary to develop simulation software dedicated to the floating PV system.

Keywords: Floating PV; PV system; electric power output; natural cooling effect; Hapcheon Dam (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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