Challenges and opportunities towards the development of floating photovoltaic systems

Floating solar photovoltaic (FPV) system is seen as an emerging megawatt-scale deployment option. The sustainable growth and management of FPV systems require detailed study of designs and construction, PV technologies and their performance reliability, performance modeling and cooling techniques, evaporation, economic and environmental aspects of these systems. The specific design and structure of the FPV influence its output power generation, durability and investment cost; thus, the overview of various design and construction strategies along with the offshore PV technology and current status of FPV systems have been presented in this paper. Various new PV technological modules are rapidly evolving these days; therefore, PV technologies for FPV systems have been discussed. The performance and reliability of FPV from the electrical point of view under the harsh environment of water bodies is a major challenge for their cost-effective power generation. Detailed analysis and updated review on the performance and degradation aspects of PV systems under the water bodies’ climate have been presented. To meet the desired energy demand and secure investment in PV systems, prior prediction of PV systems' performance at a particular location is necessary. Thus, this study attempts to model the performance and temperature of PV modules on water bodies. Also, the active cooling techniques and evaporation rate in FPV systems have been discussed. Furthermore, the economic evaluation and environmental impacts of FPV systems are essential for their rapid expansion and investment perspective. Therefore, the economic feasibility and environmental effects of floating PV systems have been explored in this paper.