The Land Sparing, Water Surface Use Efficiency, and Water Surface Transformation of Floating Photovoltaic Solar Energy Installations

Cagle, Alexander E.; Armstrong, Alona; Exley, Giles; Grodsky, Steven M.; Macknick, Jordan; Sherwin, John; Hernandez, Rebecca R.

doi:10.3390/su12198154

Cited by 49 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 90 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The results indicate that FPV systems have a higher PV panel packing density, which allows more PV capacity to be installed for a given surface area; however, because land-based PV systems are typically installed at optimal tilt angles, among other factors, they could have a slightly higher power generation efficiency (that is, they have a higher megawatt-hour per megawatt of PV capacity installed). Cagle et al [51] also recently published an empirical study that proposed three metrics to assess the land and water use efficiency of FPV systems at four installations in the United States: the land sparing ratio, water surface use efficiency, and water surface transformation. In many cases, despite the additional cost of the floatation system, the reduced cost of land acquisition and preparation results is a significant cost benefit to the FPV system, translating into as much as 26% lower development costs than ground-mounted PV [31,34,48,86].…”

Section: Land Use-related Co-benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Overall, stand-alone FPV systems have been shown to minimize the energy, water, and land trade-offs associated with energy project development. The first FPV installation at Far Niente Winery was installed on their wastewater pond to spare valuable wine-growing land, and a recent study showed that deployment of FPV can spare 2.7 times the amount of land than would be used for ground-mounted PV systems [51]. Hybrid systems can also effectively leverage existing hydropower infrastructure and reduce-if not eliminate-land-related impacts.…”

Section: Policy and Planning Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cagle et al [51] develop an empirical framework and metrics for understanding and measuring land and water resource use for FPV systems. Based on data from four small FPV installations in the United States, the authors find that the FPV systems have a smaller land use footprint than a comparable ground-mounted PV system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Benefits and Critical Knowledge Gaps in Determining the Role of Floating Photovoltaics in the Energy-Water-Food Nexus

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Floating solar photovoltaic (FPV) systems have become an increasingly attractive application of photovoltaics (PV) because of land-use constraints, the cost of land and site preparation, and the perceived energy and environmental co-benefits. Despite the increasing interest in FPV systems, a robust validation of their suggested co-benefits and impacts on the nexus of energy, water, and food (EWF) systems is lacking. This information gap makes it challenging for decision makers to justify its adoption—potentially suppressing FPV deployment. To address this gap and to help de-risk this PV deployment opportunity, we (1) review the suggested co-benefits of FPV systems with a focus on the impacts that could alleviate pressures on EWF systems and (2) identify areas where further research is needed to reduce uncertainty around FPV system performance. Our review reveals that EWF nexus-relevant co-benefits, such as improved panel efficiency and reduced land usage, are corroborated in the literature, whereas others, such as water quality impacts, lack empirical evidence. Our findings indicate that further research is needed to quantify the water-related and broader economic, environmental, social, sustainability, justice, and resilience co-benefits and impacts of FPV systems.

show abstract

Section: Land Use-related Co-benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Policy and Planning Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Benefits and Critical Knowledge Gaps in Determining the Role of Floating Photovoltaics in the Energy-Water-Food Nexus

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Studies addressing the potential impacts of FPV on ecosystem are, to-date, theoretical in their scope. 76 In order to understand the effects of the installed pilot FPV systems on the ecosystem, a large number of measurements were made under and in the vicinity The results of each cological measurement is discussed in the following five paragraphs.…”

Section: Ecological Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovative floating bifacial photovoltaic solutions for inland water areas

Ziar

Prudon

Lin³

et al. 2020

Progress in Photovoltaics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Photovoltaic (PV) technology has the potential to be integrated on many surfaces in various environments, even on water. Modeling, design, and realization of a floating PV system have more challenges than conventional rooftop or freestanding PV system. In this work, we introduce two innovative concepts for floating bifacial PV systems, describing their modeling, design, and performance monitoring. The developed concepts are retractable and enable maximum energy production through tracking the Sun. Various floating PV systems (monofacial, bifacial with and without reflectors) with different tilts and tracking capabilities are installed on a Dutch pond and are being monitored. Results of the thermal study showed that partially soaking the frame of PV modules into water does not bring a considerable additional yield (+0.17%) and revealed that floating PV modules experience higher temperature special variance compared with land-based systems.Observations showed that the birds' presence has a severe effect on floating PV performance in the short term. Electrical yield investigation concluded that due to low albedo of inland water areas (6.5%), bifacial PV systems must have reflectors. One-year monitoring showed that a bifacial PV system with reflector and horizontal tracking delivers 17.3% more specific yield (up to 29% in a clear-sky month) compared with a monofacial PV system installed on land. Ecological monitoring showed no discernable impacts on the water quality in weekly samplings but did show significant impacts on the aquatic plant biomass and periods of low oxygen concentrations.

show abstract

“…Solar energy infrastructure spans terrestrial and aquatic settings (e.g., floatovoltaics; Armstrong et al, 2020;Cagle et al, 2020) that encompass various levels of human development. The integration of this infrastructure in the built and other humandominated environments can reduce or eliminate direct and indirect conflicts with biodiversity in alignment with SDGs 14 (Life Below Water) and 15 (Life on Land).…”

Section: Solar-wildlife Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aligning Climate Change and Sustainable Development Goals With an Innovation Systems Roadmap for Renewable Power

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Energy development improves quality of life for humans, but also incurs environmental consequences. A global energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy may mitigate climate change but may also undermine the capacity to achieve some or all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this study, we use an innovation systems approach to construct a comprehensive roadmap for solar and wind energy to anticipate and improve impacts of a transition to a low carbon future in a manner ensuring climate goals and SDGs are mutually reinforcing. Our multidisciplinary approach began with an assessment of public investments in renewable energy followed by a 2-day research prioritization workshop. Fifty-eight expert workshop participants identified six research themes that proactively address the environmental sustainability of renewable energy. Next, we identified linkages between the six research themes and all 17 SDGs. Finally, we conducted a scientiometric analysis to analyze the research maturity of these themes. The results of these efforts elucidated the limits of existing knowledge of renewable energy-SDG interactions, informing the development of a research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RD3) roadmap to a renewable energy future aligned with both climate goals and SDGs. The RD3 roadmap has been designed to systematically develop solutions for diverse actors and organizations. Overall, our findings confer a broad vision for a sustainable transition to renewables to minimize unintended environmental consequences while supporting interoperability among actors particularly poised to influence its magnitude and direction.

show abstract

The Land Sparing, Water Surface Use Efficiency, and Water Surface Transformation of Floating Photovoltaic Solar Energy Installations

Cited by 49 publications

References 90 publications

Benefits and Critical Knowledge Gaps in Determining the Role of Floating Photovoltaics in the Energy-Water-Food Nexus

Benefits and Critical Knowledge Gaps in Determining the Role of Floating Photovoltaics in the Energy-Water-Food Nexus

Innovative floating bifacial photovoltaic solutions for inland water areas

Aligning Climate Change and Sustainable Development Goals With an Innovation Systems Roadmap for Renewable Power

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About