Feasibility study of floating solar photovoltaic system integrated with a hydropower plant (Nyabarongo hydropower plant dam case study)

This paper provides a technical feasibility of a 15MW grid connected floating solar photovoltaic (FSPV). The proposed model consists of a PV array, and inverters. The effects of solar irradiance and temperature on overall power generation in a grid-connected FSPV system have been investigated. The modeling method is straightforward and may be used to investigate system characteristics under a variety of temperature and solar insolation circumstances. The results show that the capacity factor of Nyabarongo hydropower plant is improved from 48% to 66%, the 30Ha of land was saved, and 24, 461.54MWh/year was generated with 27,433.01tCO2 generated and 292,972.1tCO2, were saved. The solution to agriculture industry conflicts caused by land mounted solar PV systems was found, the optimal use of Nyabarongo hydropower plant infrastructures was ensured by installing on its dam water surface the floating solar panels.