Field experience and performance analysis of floating PV technologies in the tropics

TLDR

Interest in floating photovoltaic (FPV) power plants has grown rapidly, with many markets such as Japan, South Korea, UK, China, and India considering FPV attractive and viable, and Singapore launching the world’s largest FPV testbed of about 1 MW in 2016. The study aims to evaluate the economic, technical, and environmental feasibility of large‑scale FPV systems on inland freshwater reservoirs, presenting extensive field data, comparing water and rooftop operations, analyzing performance of various FPV configurations, and highlighting encountered issues. The testbed comprises eight FPV systems with varied PV modules, inverters, and floating structures, and the study collects high‑quality field measurements to compare water and rooftop operating environments and analyze performance across these configurations. Field experience and performance comparisons of the eight FPV systems reveal valuable learning points for the community, showing that FPV confers performance benefits but also requires best practices to avoid new issues and pitfalls.

Abstract

Abstract The interest in floating photovoltaic (FPV) power plants has grown rapidly in recent years. In many established and emerging markets, such as Japan, South Korea, UK, China, and India, FPV is already considered as an attractive and viable option for PV deployment. In 2016, Singapore launched the world's largest FPV testbed, with a total installed capacity close to 1 MW p . This testbed aims to study the economic and technical feasibility, as well as the environmental impacts of deploying large‐scale FPV systems on inland fresh water reservoirs. The testbed currently consists of 8 systems, with different configurations in terms of PV modules, inverters, and floating structures. The field experience of deploying, operating, and maintaining these systems, together with a comparison of their performance and reliability offers highly valuable learning points for the FPV community. In this work, we present extensive, high‐quality field measurement data; compare operating environments on water and on a rooftop; analyze system performance of different FPV systems; and share some issues encountered. We found that FPV does confer some performance benefits, but best practices should also be established to avoid new issues and pitfalls associated with deploying PV on water.