Design and Analysis of a Floating Photovoltaic System for Offshore Installation: The Case Study of Lampedusa

Alberto Ghigo (), Emilio Faraggiana, Massimo Sirigu, Giuliana Mattiazzo and Giovanni Bracco
Additional contact information
Alberto Ghigo: Marine Offshore Renewable Energy Lab (MOREnergy Lab), Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (DIMEAS), Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Turin, Italy
Emilio Faraggiana: Marine Offshore Renewable Energy Lab (MOREnergy Lab), Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (DIMEAS), Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Turin, Italy
Massimo Sirigu: Marine Offshore Renewable Energy Lab (MOREnergy Lab), Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (DIMEAS), Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Turin, Italy
Giuliana Mattiazzo: Marine Offshore Renewable Energy Lab (MOREnergy Lab), Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (DIMEAS), Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Turin, Italy
Giovanni Bracco: Marine Offshore Renewable Energy Lab (MOREnergy Lab), Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (DIMEAS), Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Turin, Italy

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 23, 1-30

Abstract: In recent years, numerous projects for floating PV systems have been developed. These plants of various sizes have mainly been installed on enclosed lakes or basins characterised by the absence of external forcing related to waves and currents. However, offshore installation would allow the development of such plants in areas where land is not available, such as islands. This paper analyses the state of the art of floating PV, describes the design of a floating PV platform and the development of a numerical model to evaluate the system performance in an offshore environment. The case study of the island of Lampedusa is then analyzed: starting from a single floating foundation with its mooring system, a floating PV system is designed to meet the island’s electricity needs. In order to provide the competitiveness of the system, a techno-economic analysis is carried out, evaluating the main cost items of Capex, Opex and LCOE. Although the LCOE obtained is significantly higher than a traditional solar plant installed on land, this technology is competitive compared to other offshore marine technologies such as offshore wind and wave energy.

Keywords: floating PV; marine offshore renewable energy; solar energy; Mediterranean sea; hydrostatic analysis; dynamic modelling; techno-economic analysis; LCOE (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/23/8804/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/23/8804/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:23:p:8804-:d:980612

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().