Performance improvement study of an integrated photovoltaic system for offshore power production

Abstract

Sustainable energy is one of the main options for resolving energy problems and climate change issues. Solar energy is one of the main promising renewable energy sources, which can be captured and converted to electrical energy through photovoltaic (PV) panels. In the open literature, it is shown that having two PV panels integrated into a back-to-back configuration placed on naturally reflective surfaces provides the potential of doubling the total power produced by a single-faced PV panel with the appropriate location and orientation. This paper presents a case study of two-PV panel systems for offshore power production. The relevance to offshore has the water surface as the reflective surface to produce power from the back facing panel. The city of Ottawa in Canada is selected as the location for a case study. Various conditions and operating parameters are considered in assessing the performance of the proposed system, including solar radiation intensity, system orientation, time of year in terms of months, and the variations in parameters throughout the day. The assessment of the proposed system is carried out through modeling and simulating the proposed double PV panels in the COMSOL Multiphysics software. It is found that the minimum improvement in the total power production over the single face conventional PV is 38% in January for the east-facing PV front face. For the two PV systems, the optimal overall power production for the various time conditions and orientations, at the specified location, is found to be the north orientation of the PV panel. In this case, the power it produces is 89% of that of the east orientation. A similar trend is observed for the single-faced PV panel, where the north-facing PV provides 62% of what it could produce in the east-facing orientation.

Designing and Energy Estimation of Photovoltaic Energy Generation System and Prediction of Plant Performance with the Variation of Tilt Angle and Interrow Spacing

“…The evaluation of the PV systems was carried out by modelling and simulating the photovoltaic modules in the simulation software COMSOL Multiphysics. It was found that the total energy generation of the east-facing photovoltaic modules was 38.0% better than the conventional system [20]. Various environmental factors such as dust accumulation, shading and bird droppings affect the performance of photovoltaic system [21].…”

Development and analysis of a solar‐based offshore energy system for sustainable island communities

“…F I G U R E 1 Global LCOE values of renewables (data from 15 ) Offshore solar systems are analyzed with thermodynamic-based approaches from energy and exergy points of view. Al-Zareer et al 17 studied the performance improvement of an integrated photovoltaic system for offshore applications. Their proposed system produced 38% more power during January, in Ottawa, Canada, than the single face conventional PV system.…”

Optimum energy analysis of separation and purification units for bioethanol production by the use of lignocellulose feedstock

“…As investigations show that, 60 to 80% of bioethanol operating cost is accounted for separation and purification processes. 1 In this study, as it is mentioned before the bioethanol production process, separation/purification of the final product is analyzed since it is the most difficult processes; as the novel point of the study, the reached aim is to reduce the production drawbacks of the process, energy consumption reduction and operating cost resulting from it. In comparison with the previous studies, effective parameters are applied in the analysis along with to get more comprehensive view of the bioethanol production.…”

“…Recent papers about bioethanol production show that this process should be studied in detail considering cost and energy consumption to make it practically cost‐effective. As investigations show that, 60 to 80% of bioethanol operating cost is accounted for separation and purification processes 1 …”

“…Nowadays, energy is a vital factor in any production process design. 1,2 A drop pattern in fossil resource usage and environmental effects, because of the production of greenhouse gases from pollutant fuels' consumption, have brought climate change; These predicaments menace plants, animals, and human life. 3,4 Fossil fuels are the main sources of GHGs (Green House Gases) emissions.…”