A study on major design elements of tracking-type floating photovoltaic systems

Abstract

A floating PV system results from the combination of photovoltaic power plant technology and floating technology. K-Water has installed a 100 kW floating PV system on the water surface on Hapcheon dam reservoir in October 2011 and has been operating it since then. After successfully installing the 100 kW floating PV system, K-Water additionally installed a 500 kW floating PV system on another location nearby in July 2012. The electricity generated by the two floating PV systems installed in Hapcheon dam reservoir is creating profits by being sold to the national power grid. In this article, taking a step further from such fixed-type floating PV, the basic concept of 100 kW tracking-type floating PV and the application plan for the tracking algorithm and the rotation mechanism of structure which is a major design element were explained. As the first case that can maximize the power generation efficiency of PV internationally, it is expected that this study will be utilized as a primary guide for future development of tracking type PV system.

Aquavoltaics: Synergies for dual use of water area for solar photovoltaic electricity generation and aquaculture

“…These aspects will vary, especially the size of the support structure and mooring system based on the site location's weather and general wave motion, and size of PV modules. In a floating PV system, design considerations to be taken into account include buoyancy forces [74] and environmental forces such as wind or wave action [57,75,76]. Each pontoon would need to support at least one module, with most designs such as Figure 3 supporting two.…”

Application of Floating Photovoltaic Energy Generation Systems in South Korea

“…It consisted of a four-unit structure with 24.8 kW generation capacity per unit. The internal rectangularly shaped structure hosts an operating device for rotation and various electrical devices, as shown in Figure 9 [13][14][15]. In addition, a two-unit structure was installed as fixed units.…”

A Study on Development of Azimuth Angle Tracking Algorithm for Tracking-type Floating Photovoltaic System

“…On water surface, unlike on ground surface, the entire structure moves and rotates by wind or other environmental variables even if the mooring system is installed, so an error may occur to the azimuth angle [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10].…”

“…In floating PV, the external forces including self-weight of the structure is transferred to the water through the buoyancy in the gravitational direction, so the length of the structure that can resist the gravitational direction can be designed with relatively more freedom. Also, as it floats on the water, it can rotate with a small amount of energy even if the unit rotation capacity is large (over 20kW), the structure can be made simpler than ground tracking-type if tracking-type is applied to floating PV system, thus reducing malfunction risk and increasing efficiency [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. The aim of this paper is to examine types of tracking-type systems for development of a tracking algorithm for maximum power generation in floating condition and to test the developed algorithm through application in the model.…”