The Sun is rising over the North Sea: Assessment of offshore solar photovoltaics

Abstract

Floating solar photovoltaics (FPV), also known as floatovoltaics, is a rapidly growing application of PV systems. FPV systems are compact and occupy no land space, making them ideal for offshore deployment. This thesis explores the energy yield and integration advantages of FPV systems in detail. In the first part of the thesis, a 3.7 kW FPV system with 12 panels is modeled and compared to a land-based system, considering factors like sea waves, wind speed, and humidity. Results indicate that the FPV system yields about 13% higher annual energy output, with peaks of up to 18% in some months. Chapter 3 focuses on dynamic albedo's impact on FPV system energy generation. A varying albedo model is compared to a constant albedo model, showing a 3% performance increase with dynamic albedo. Chapter 4 assesses the feasibility of adding FPV capacity to an existing offshore wind farm in the North Sea. Cable pooling and various subsidy scenarios are considered, demonstrating economic viability under different conditions. Chapter 5 introduces a smart PV module architecture to enhance shade resilience, improving performance under partial shading conditions. The smart architecture outperforms standard series and parallel connected modules. Chapter 6 investigates the performance of a shade-resilient smart module under dynamic shading patterns. A DC-DC buck converter compensates for reduced current levels in shaded cells, resulting in efficient and consistent power output. Overall, this thesis explores the benefits and potential of FPV systems, including their energy yield, dynamic albedo effects, integration with offshore wind farms, and shade resilience using a smart module architecture.