A review of studies and research on power generation using floating photovoltaic systems in the world

Document Type : Review Article

Authors

1 Department of Renewable Energies and Environment, Faculty of New Sciences & Technologies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Electrical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The increase in electricity demand, the rapid reduction of fossil fuels, as well as environmental concerns around the world, have led to the expansion of large-scale photovoltaic power plants. Floating solar system is a new design for photovoltaic power plants which are usually installed on freshwaters such as natural lakes or dams. This technology has attracted the wide attention since 2007. Medium and large-scale floating photovoltaic power plants are installed in several countries, such as Japan, South Korea, India and the United States. Considering the advantages of installing these systems, including reducing evaporation, using these systems in arid and semiarid areas can be a solution to reduce the water crisis. In this article, a review of the articles on the energy generation of floating photovoltaic systems and their efficiency has been presented. Then, the impact of using the system on reducing evaporation and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as studying the economic issues of these systems has been studied. The results indicate that the efficiency of floating photovoltaic systems is about 12% higher than ground-mounted photovoltaic systems. Also, these floating systems can reduce surface water evaporation up to 90%.

Keywords


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