Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Experimental investigation of the microclimate effects on floating solar power plant energy efficiency

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Solar PVs are mostly built on uncultivated land. However, the increase in land values due to the increasing world population, the lack of suitable areas for potential PV plants, especially in the land-scarce countries, and the increasing energy need led researchers to seek new solutions. At this point, floating solar power plants emerge as a good alternative with their advantages such as not occupying land area and reducing water evaporation by covering the water surface. In this study, a floating photovoltaic power plant with 120 kWp installation power was installed on Buyukcekmece Lake, and the effect of the microclimate data on the produced energy of the system was investigated. Since the energy produced by PV panels is highly dependent on climate effects and there may be many climatic variations depending on the geographical conditions, experimental measurements have been made annually in this study and the results have been analyzed in order to contribute to the researches in this field. From the obtained results, it is seen that the most important factor that positively affects the energy produced is solar irradiance, while specific humidity, wave loads, and module temperature have a negative effect.

Graphical Abstract

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

AIP Publishing believes that all datasets underlying the conclusions of the paper should be available to readers. We encourage authors to deposit their datasets in publicly available repositories (where available and appropriate) or present them in the main manuscript. All research articles must include a data availability statement informing where the data can be found. By data, we mean the minimal dataset that would be necessary to interpret, replicate, and build upon the findings reported in the article. The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Abbreviations

T s :

Standard module temperature (°C) (module temperature at 25 °C)

T m :

Measured module temperature (°C)

η:

Loss rate (power loss ratio due to module temperature difference)

P max :

Percentage power loss rate per unit temperature increase of the module (0.43%)

T a :

Air temperature (°C)

G :

Irradiation on the PV module (W/m2)

τ:

Transmittance of glazing

α:

Absorbed fraction of the irradiance

ηc :

Efficiency of the module

U :

Total heat loss coefficient of the collector (W/m2K)

References

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality-Istanbul Energy Industry and Trade Inc., Turkey. The authors are gratefully thankful to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality-Istanbul Energy Industry and Trade Inc. for the support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Deniz Yilmaz.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Karatas, Y., Yilmaz, D. Experimental investigation of the microclimate effects on floating solar power plant energy efficiency. Clean Techn Environ Policy 23, 2157–2170 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-021-02122-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-021-02122-y

Keywords

Navigation