Design and construction of a test bench to investigate the potential of floating PV systems

Abstract Floating photovoltaic systems (FPVSs) are a modern concept for clean energy generation, which combine the existing PV systems with a floating structure. Such a combination enables achieving a higher efficiency of PV modules and a best management of land resources which ensures meeting energy requirements more effectively. In this paper, an experimental investigation of a small-scale FPVS is presented. It is designed and built for research and demonstration purposes as a first attempt to analyze this concept under Moroccan operating conditions. The objective is to analyze and compare the electrical and thermal performances of an FPVS with those of an overland PV system (OPVS) with a similar nominal capacity. To do this, a test bench consisting of FPVS and OPVS and measurement station has been proposed and established. The design and construction aspects of the FPVS, as well as the experimental setup of the entire test bench, are extensively described in this paper. The test results show that the average temperature of the FPV modules, during the test period, was always lower compared to that of the OPV modules with a difference of up to 2.74 °C. This means that FPVS can benefit from the natural cooling effect of water and operate with higher efficiency as compared to OPVS. It was also found that the FPVS generates up to 2.33% more daily energy than the OPVS. Further, an experimental test was also performed in this work to compare the energy production of FPVS under different tilt angles. The test result confirms that the FPVS produces the highest energy when it is installed at the annual optimal tilt angle. Hence, adjusting the PV modules at their optimal tilt angle is recommended as well for FPVSs.