Energy assessment of floating photovoltaic system

The floating PV system is a new concept in energy technology to meet the energy needs. The proposed work integrates existing land based technology with a newly developed floating PV technology. In photovoltaic system the electrical efficiency decreases with temperature increase. Therefore in order to achieve higher efficiency the PV module has to be cooled by removing the heat in some way. Floating panels are mounted on the high density thermoplastic polyethylene (HDPE) blocks which can float on the water. In this paper the power generation efficiency of floating and land based were analyzed. The objective of the study is to analyze and compare the performance of conventional and floating based PV system. The system is installed with a capacity of 250 W. The system is tested under solar intensity between 125W/m
²
to 945W/m
²
. The Current (I) - Voltage (V) curves and power (P) - Voltage (V) curves of the results were analyzed. The floating system has shown greater generation efficiency as compared to conventional system. The study found that FPV has higher efficiency and total power gain. The FPV system is convenient to rivers, lakes, ponds, water treatments plants etc.