Floating Photovoltaic Plant Monitoring: A Review of Requirements and Feasible Technologies

Silvia Bossi, Luciano Blasi, Giacomo Cupertino, Ramiro dell’Erba, Angelo Cipollini, Saverio De Vito, Marco Santoro, Girolamo Di Francia () and Giuseppe Marco Tina
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Silvia Bossi: Research Centre of Casaccia, ENEA—Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Via Anguillarese, 301, 00123 Roma, Italy
Luciano Blasi: Research Centre of Casaccia, ENEA—Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Via Anguillarese, 301, 00123 Roma, Italy
Giacomo Cupertino: Research Centre of Casaccia, ENEA—Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Via Anguillarese, 301, 00123 Roma, Italy
Ramiro dell’Erba: Research Centre of Casaccia, ENEA—Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Via Anguillarese, 301, 00123 Roma, Italy
Angelo Cipollini: Research Centre of Casaccia, ENEA—Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Via Anguillarese, 301, 00123 Roma, Italy
Saverio De Vito: Research Centre of Portici, ENEA—Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, P. le E. Fermi, 1, 80055 Napoli, Italy
Marco Santoro: Research Centre of Casaccia, ENEA—Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Via Anguillarese, 301, 00123 Roma, Italy
Girolamo Di Francia: Research Centre of Portici, ENEA—Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, P. le E. Fermi, 1, 80055 Napoli, Italy
Giuseppe Marco Tina: Department of Electric, Electronic and Computer Engineering, University of Catania, v. le A. Doria no. 6, 95125 Catania, Italy

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 19, 1-26

Abstract: Photovoltaic energy (PV) is considered one of the pillars of the energy transition. However, this energy source is limited by a power density per unit surface lower than 200 W/m 2 , depending on the latitude of the installation site. Compared to fossil fuels, such low power density opens a sustainability issue for this type of renewable energy in terms of its competition with other land uses, and forces us to consider areas suitable for the installation of photovoltaic arrays other than farmlands. In this frame, floating PV plants, installed in internal water basins or even offshore, are receiving increasing interest. On the other hand, this kind of installation might significantly affect the water ecosystem environment in various ways, such as by the effects of solar shading or of anchorage installation. As a result, monitoring of floating PV (FPV) plants, both during the ex ante site evaluation phase and during the operation of the PV plant itself, is therefore necessary to keep such effects under control. This review aims to examine the technical and academic literature on FPV plant monitoring, focusing on the measurement and discussion of key physico-chemical parameters. This paper also aims to identify the additional monitoring features required for energy assessment of a floating PV system compared to a ground-based PV system. Moreover, due to the intrinsic difficulty in the maintenance operations of PV structures not installed on land, novel approaches have introduced autonomous solutions for monitoring the environmental impacts of FPV systems. Technologies for autonomous mapping and monitoring of water bodies are reviewed and discussed. The extensive technical literature analyzed in this review highlights the current lack of a cohesive framework for monitoring these impacts. This paper concludes that there is a need to establish general guidelines and criteria for standardized water quality monitoring (WQM) and management in relation to FPV systems.

Keywords: floating photovoltaic; autonomous surface vehicle (ASV); autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV); ROV; environmental monitoring; water quality monitoring (WQM); unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); renewable energy; pervasive sensing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
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