Using remote sensing to calculate floating photovoltaic technical potential of a dam’s surface

Abstract A dam with a hydroelectric power plant (HEPP) prevents flooding while generating electricity and providing controlled irrigation of agricultural land. An open dam surface causes a substantial loss in water resources over the course of a year due to evaporation. In this paper, the authors propose to occupy the idle dam area with a floating photovoltaic (FPV) solar power plant (SPP) to generate electrical energy and to conserve water by minimizing evaporation. Since the shoreline of a dam used for agricultural irrigation continually changes, the most critical challenge in installing a SPP is to determine the suitable area to be covered with FPV panels. In this study, the shoreline changes of the Demirkopru Dam in Manisa, Turkey, were monitored over 20 years from Landsat and Sentinel satellite images using the supervised classification in the Google Earth Engine. The minimum surface area of the dam was found to be 1,562.45 ha. Installing a 2.03 GWp FPV SPP horizontally on this surface and obtaining 3,328.33 GWh annual energy is feasible. Moreover, the FPV panels can prevent 28,231,026.90 m3 of water from evaporating. Approximately 7.82% of the water used for electricity production in 2019 can be recovered with the installation of this SPP.