English Abstract
Abstract :
This study used experimental and analytical methodologies to compare the technical and economic potential of installing floating solar systems (FPVs) in Bahrain compared to installing land-based systems (OLPVs) while considering Bahrain's weather conditions. The results of the experiment, which were carried out in April 2022, indicate that FPVs have an average of 7.5% higher power generation than OLPVs when the FPVs are in direct contact with the water (0° tilt angle). However, this improvement reduced to 5.25% and 4.3% when adjusting the tilt angles for both systems to 16° and 26°, respectively. According to the developed mathematical model for the floating PV system, the IMWp FPV plant utilizing panels with 0° tilt angle can produce up to 1505.3 MWh of energy annually, which is 9.8% more than the power produced by 0° OLPVs plant with the same capacity. Also, the results indicate that the 1MW, FPVs can produce 1567.7 MWh for the 16° tilt angle under the optimistic scenario, which is 8.6% more than the power produced by 1MWp 16° OLPVs. Furthermore, the 1MWp plant of 26° FPV can produce up to 1570.7 MWh of energy annually, which is 8.4% higher than the power produced by IMWOLPVs with a 26° tilt angle. The Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) for the IMW, FPVs in direct contact with the water is found to be 7.51 cents/kWh, which is higher than the 26° OLPVs with about 14.1%. Finally, the mounting structure costs for tilted FPVs have significantly increased the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), where the 26° FPVs under the optimistic scenario finding to be 33.3% higher than the 26° OLPV and 16.8% higher than the FPV in direct contact with the water.
