Optimizing Power Output of Floating Solar Plant

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 09 Issue: 12 | Dec 2022 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2022, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.529 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 765
Optimizing Power Output of Floating Solar Plant
Utkarsh Patil, Manish More, Mayur Kondhalkar, Aniket Sonawane
Ajeenkya DY. Patil Collage of Engineering Lohegaon, Pune, India
Guidance : Prof . Sarika.P.Thombare (M.E Construction Management)
Ajeenkya DY. Patil Collage Of Engineering Lohegaon, Pune, India
---------------------------------------------------------------------***---------------------------------------------------------------------
Abstract - Fossil fuels are burning out at a rapid rate. An
alternative source of energy is required and various
resource needs to be found for use for humans as soon as
possible. There is no other better alternative than solar
energy. it is the one of the main alternative sources for
cope up the gap energy crisis. a near-term alternative
option for cost-effective solar electric power generation
based on a sunlight concentrating technology: integrated
high-concentration of photovoltaic cells. The advantages
of using Fresnel lens is been well analyzed, but
development was resisted by the fact that the solar panels
cant withstand the high temperature caused due to focus
of Fresnel lens. In this project photovoltaic cells are used
by placing Fresnel lens over them, and for heat reduction a
cooling equipment should be attached to maximize the
generation of electricity. By using Fresnel lens, the
efficiency of photovoltaic cell can brought to maximum
and the cost can be reduced to minimum. The use Fresnel
lens for solar power generation through solar panels in
hot areas such as those with equatorial or tropical climate
is generally avoided.
Key Words: photovoltaic cells, Fresnel lens, parabolic
solar collectors, cooling equipment, sunlight concentrating
technology
1. INTRODUCTION
Floating Solar Plant- PV systems known as floating solar
arrays float on the water's surface of remediation and
tailing ponds, quarry lakes, irrigation canals, or drinking
water reservoirs. There are only a few of these systems in
France, India, Japan, South Korea, the UK, Singapore, and
the US.] It is claimed that the systems have advantages
over photovoltaic on land. For construction on bodies of
water not used for recreation, there are fewer laws and
regulations and higher land costs. Unlike the majority of
terrestrial solar farms, floating arrays can be unobtrusive
because they are out of sight.. Due to the fact that water
cools the panels, they operate at better efficiency than PV
panels on land. The panels have a special coating to
prevent rust or corrosion. Installing solar panels above a
pond allows for natural cooling of the panels, which
enhances power output. The system's lifespan is increased
by the cooler environment's reduced load on it. Floating
solar uses the same readily accessible solar panels as roof-
and ground-based single-axis tracking solar systems and is
as affordable. The floating installations are eligible for
federal, state, and local grant and incentive programmes,
just like land-based solar. The systems not only provide
power but also improve the environment in other ways. As
an illustration, the solar power generating system can
reduce evaporation by up to 70% by shading the water.
The systems can also raise the standard of the water. As
sunlight reaches aquatic bodies, photosynthesis
encourages the formation of organic materials, including
algae. Algae growth is decreased by darkening the water.
Fig -1: floating solar plant of 25MW on omkareshwar
reservoir in Madhya Pradesh.
Fresnel lens-Fresnel lenses are flat on one side and have
numerous concentric grooves that function as small
prisms on the opposite side to bend parallel light rays into
a single focal length. There are several Fresnel lens types,
each of which is appropriate for a particular application.
Large, durable acrylic sheets for concentration
photovoltaic (CPV) applications. Reverse arrangement To
focus the light, Fresnel lenses are made with the flat side
facing the sun and the grooved side towards the
photovoltaic cell. Several applications have been
developed and successfully tested over the last 20 years to
demonstrate the viability of Fresnel lens solar
concentration systems. Although current applications are
minor, research and development projects indicate that
non-imaging Fresnel lens solar concentrators will soon
lead to a breakthrough in commercial solar energy
concentration application technology.

Fig -2: Fresnel lens to be used on solar panels.
1.1 Problem Statement of Study:-
There are some major problems which are interlinked to
each other caused due to fitting Fresnel lens panels on
floating solar plant/other solar plants:
As the temperature increases on surface of solar panels the
amount of electricity production also increases. But after a
specific point the energy production starts to decrease due
to excessive heating caused due to Fresnel lens focus.
The cost of building a floating solar plant is very high
Fig -3: graph showing temperature vs efficiency effect on
solar panel
1.2 Objective of the study:-
To find solution to keep the solar panels cool to increase
energy production to its maximum capacity
To try to optimize cost and energy output of floating solar
plant
To find perfect type of Fresnel lens to be used in the model
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
There are many researches done in the field of floating
solar plant some of major researches are listed below.
Table -1: literature Review
Literature review
Title of Paper Author findings
A Study on
Power
Generation
Analysis of
Floating PV
System
Considering
Environmental
Impact
Young-
Kwan Choi
The superiority of
floating PV systems is
demonstrated in the
paper through a
comparison analysis of
the generation
amounts produced by
floating PV systems
installed by K-water,
2.4kW, 100kW, and
500kW. The paper also
examines the factors
that contributed to this
superiority. In order to
assess the impact of the
environment on the
generation efficiency of
floating PV systems, the
effect of wind speed
and waves on the
construction of the
systems was also
measured.
Feasibility
analysis of
Floating Solar
Photovoltaic
Plant at
Srisailam in
Andhra
Pradesh: India
P S
Kulkarni
G
Mamatha
In this study, MATLAB
is used to examine the
performance and
properties of the FSPV
module with actual
meteorological data
from the year 2020.
The technical
performance of the
proposed 5MWp FSPV
plant at the Srisailam
reservoir in A.P., India,
was also assessed using
PVSyst and compared
to GSPV of the same
rating. The findings
indicate that compared
to GSPV Plant, FSPV
generates 4.8% more
capacity and reduces
5.45% more carbon
emissions annually.
Due to the cooling
effect, the suggested
floating solar PV offers
higher performance
characteristics in real-

time application than
GSPV and prevents the
evaporation of 111.09
million litres of water
yearly.
Investigation of
Fresnel Lens
Effect on Solar
Panel Power
Generation
Abdul Hadi
Mohaimin
Md Rakib
Uddin
Hasnul
Hashim
There are indeed
many ways to increase
the power output of
solar panels. This
research examines how
the proximity of the
Fresnel lens to the
solar panel affects the
amount of energy
generated by the panel.
Fresnel lenses are used
to amplify the sun's
light intensity in order
to boost the solar
panel's solar
collectability and
perhaps increase
power output.
A review of
photovoltaic
cells cooling
techniques
Swar A.
Zubeer
H.A.
Mohamm
ed
Mustafa
Ilkan
In order to increase the
efficiency of small
household PV systems,
this paper focuses on
maintaining a
uniformly low cell
temperature. The
effects of the operating
temperature of the cells
on the electrical and
thermal performance of
the PV systems have
been examined
experimentally and
numerically using
various cooling
strategies.
Comprehensive
review on
Advanced
Cooling
Techniques for
Photovoltaic
Panel
Sampurn
a Panda
Manoj
Gupta
Cs Malvi
Despite their low yield,
photovoltaic systems
are frequently used.
The productivity of the
PV module decreases
when it heats up, which
in turn affects the
panel's output, energy
efficiency, operation,
and lifespan. Therefore,
cooling strategies are
crucial to lowering the
PV panel's temperature
and maintaining it. This
research focuses on
cutting-edge cooling
methods for PV panels
as well as upcoming
scientific advances.
Techno-
economic
Analysis of 1
MWp Floating
Solar PV Plant
Swati S
Gurfude
Deshetty
Tanusha
Dhayapul
e
Mounika
A new solar energy
method for producing
electricity is the
floating photovoltaic
system. To boost their
generation efficiency,
the solar panels in the
FPV system are placed
on water rather than
the ground. Due to the
water cooling effect,
the temperature of the
PV panels will be lower.
Their power
temperature coefficient
is negative. As a result,
power production rises
as panel temperature
falls. For the chosen
site, the energy
production and cost of
electricity are
determined to be
roughly 1614 MWh per
year and 3 INR/kWh.
The FPV plant will be in
charge of closing the
supply-demand energy
gap for electrical
energy. Compared to
solar PV facilities that
are ground-mounted, it
offers more
environmental
advantages.
Need For Cooling:- External climate factors including
concentrated dust, concentrated sunlight, wind speed,
moisture content, and air temperature affect changes in
surface temperature. As it is more difficult to change other
relevant factors, efficiency can be increased by lowering
the operating temperature. Solar radiation is an
unpredictable factor, for instance, when constructing
photovoltaic panels on the facades of buildings, which are
vertical and non-directional surfaces. A range of cooling
strategies have been tested and evaluated in a number of
papers to increase the efficiency of photovoltaics by
preventing the problem of temperature rise.

Chart -1: Graph showing greater efficiency of floating
solar plant over conventional solar plant due to natural
cooling effect conducted in south Korea
3. METHODOLOGY
Classification of cooling techniques:-
Active and passive cooling methods, which are being
developed by scientists, are intended to lower solar cell
operating temperatures. the P.V. being cooled properly
array has a tendency to lower output loss and boost the
PV's dependability. module. In order to increase P.V.
performance, passive cooling and active cooling
techniques are used. Modules.
The three main passive cooling categories are conductive
cooling, passive cooling of the water, and passive cooling
of the air. Additional components for passive cooling may
include a heat pipe, sink, or exchanger to support natural
convection cooling. The material used for the heat sinks
was actually highly thermally conductive. To maintain the
total flow of heat from the solar panel to the local
environment, they are positioned at the bottom of the
solar panel. Therefore, it is believed that passive cooling
solutions are effective at lowering PV temperature. cells,
as their production is very simple and affordable.
Heat sinks, microchannels, heat exchangers, phase-change
materials (PCMs), nanofluids, thermoelectric generators
(TEGs), or combinations with other systems are some
examples of the increasingly complicated techniques that
cooling technologies have moved toward. The cutting-
edge, innovative field is focused on beam splitting (or
spectrum filter) technology, which separates the P.V.
wavelengths. cells different from those utilized for the PVT
system's thermal conversion.
Technique used in cooling- Forced water circulation:
liquid is utilized as the cooling medium to cool the cells,
heat pipes can be adopted on the back side of module
panels to reduce the temperature. The excess radiation
absorption heat for P.V. modules can therefore be
transferred to the circulating coolant and even employed
for other purposes. Studies have shown that the capacity
of the pipe material for heat transfer has a significant
impact on the system's overall efficiency. However, using
such a technique incurs substantial installation and
material expenses, and as a result we will implement the
cooling system composed of radiators and other major
parts form scrap vehicles which will play major part in
cost cutting.
Fig 4:- flowchart of methodology to be followed
Other techniques used for cooling solar panel:
Water spraying:- The sprinklers on the front of the P.V.
squirt water. this system's modules, including the pump
and related pipelines (Fig.4). Interesting findings from
earlier studies on water spraying demonstrate an up to
15% boost in electricity efficiency in adverse weather
conditions. While this water-wasting device, which was
put on the overland P.V. In terms of cost and suitability, it
can be a good option for floating solar systems.
Fig 5:- Reducing temperature of solar panel by water
spraying
Heat pipe:- A passive cooling system known as a "Heat
Pipe" uses the evaporation and condensation of a fluid in a

sealed system to move energy from the source to the sink.
A typical heat pipe has a sealed pipe made of a high
thermal conductivity material, such copper or aluminum,
at the condenser and the evaporator. Here is a diagram
and model of a heat pipe with a solar panel. The heat pipe
can transfer heat from the solar panel to air or water,
lower the temperature, and increase the solar panel's
effectiveness.
Fig 6:- Image of Heat Pipes
4. CONCLUSIONS
The power output of a floating solar plant shall be
efficiently optimized by use of Fresnel lens to concentrate
the light rays form the sun to achieve higher efficiency of
of solar panel which may increase the production of
electricity. but development was resisted by the fact that
the solar panels cant withstand the high temperature
caused due to focus of Fresnel lens. Heat pipes can be
installed on the rear of module panels to lower the
temperature. Liquid is used as the cooling medium to cool
the cells. However, utilizing this method results in high
installation and material costs. As a result, we will use a
cooling system made of radiators and other significant
pieces from junk vehicles, which will significantly reduce
costs.
REFERENCES
[1] .Sampurna Panda, Manoj Gupta, "Comprehensive
review on Advanced Cooling Techniques for
Photovoltaic Panel", 2022 2nd International
Conference on Power Electronics & IoT Applications
in Renewable Energy and its Control (PARC), pp.1-5,
2022.
[2] Young-Kwan Choi " A Study on Power Generation
Analysis of Floating PV System Considering
Environmental Impact” International Journal of
Software Engineering and Its Application
[3] Swar A. Zubeer,H.A. Mohammed, and Mustafa Ilkan "
review of photovoltaic cells cooling techniques” , E3S
Web of Conferences 22, 00205 (2017)

Optimizing Power Output of Floating Solar Plant

More Related Content

Similar to Optimizing Power Output of Floating Solar Plant (20)

More from IRJET Journal (20)

Recently uploaded (20)

Optimizing Power Output of Floating Solar Plant