Floating PVs in Terms of Power Generation, Environmental Aspects, Market Potential, and Challenges

Erdem Cuce, Pinar Mert Cuce, Shaik Saboor, Aritra Ghosh and Yahya Sheikhnejad
Additional contact information
Erdem Cuce: Low/Zero Carbon Energy Technologies Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Zihni Derin Campus, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize 53100, Turkey
Pinar Mert Cuce: Low/Zero Carbon Energy Technologies Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Zihni Derin Campus, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize 53100, Turkey
Shaik Saboor: School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore 632014, Tamil Nadu, India
Aritra Ghosh: College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, Renewable Energy, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9FE, Cornwall, UK
Yahya Sheikhnejad: PICadvanced SA, Creative Science Park, Via do Conhecimento, Ed. Central, 3830-352 Ílhavo, Portugal

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-25

Abstract: Limited reserves of fossil fuels, rising environmental concerns, and a remarkable increase in electricity demand have led to the necessity of harnessing solar energy on a large scale. For this purpose, there has been a noticeable stimulation into photovoltaic power plants (PVPPs) over the last three decades, but the land requirement for PVPPs is still a handicap in many countries since valuable lands are considered for other purposes such as agriculture and livestock. For effective conservation of valuable lands and water resources, PVPPs are preferred to be installed on various water bodies such as oceans, seas, lagoons, lakes, rivers, dams, canals, wastewater treatment plants, irrigation ponds, fish farms, wineries, reservoirs, etc. PV systems on water bodies are called floating PVPPs, and they have outstanding advantages compared with land-based PVPPs including better energy generation owing to passive cooling effects, higher system efficiency and reliability, and lower dirt and dust accumulation on PV modules thus lower operating costs. There are also some significant environmental features provided by floating PVs. Shading effects due to PV coverage reduce water losses arising from evaporation. Moreover, algae growth is limited because of mitigated solar radiation, which yields better water quality. This review presents more insight on floating PVPPs in terms of several aspects such as electricity generation, system efficiency, reliability and sustainability, experimental applications and facilities in operation, water and carbon saving as well as challenges.

Keywords: solar PV; floating PV power plants; electricity generation; system efficiency; water saving (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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