Assessment of the potential of different floating solar technologies - Overview and analysis of different case studies

Floating solar technology (FPV) emergence is driven by lack of available land, loss of efficiency at high operating cell temperature, energy security and decarbonization targets. It is a promising area of solar photovoltaic application, with a large global market potential. A significant challenge when assessing FPV projects is the lack of a suitable simulation tools for estimating the electricity production. A clear understanding and quantification of the cooling effect, how it differs between different FPV technologies, is still unclear among the industry. As the sector grows, larger projects will emerge, which require financing. Ensuring bankability is fundamental, thus having confidence in the energy estimates is key. Using PVsyst (R) to estimate electricity production of FV plants ensures bankability but has limitations. This work aimed to close the gap between the expected enhanced performance highlighted in the literature for FPV systems and the results from numerical simulations of energy production performed with PVsyst (R). Results show that the increase in production from FPV technologies is below the anticipated values of the literature (ca. 10%), ranging from 0.31% to 2.59%, depending on the floating solar technology. Based on the results presented, higher performance is strongly dependent on technology and the location. The values of the levelized cost of energy ranged between 96.2 (sic)/MWh to 50.3 (sic)/MWh, depending on the technology and the solar irradiation that reaches the site.