Geographic and technical floating photovoltaic potential

Abstract

The photovoltaic geographic potential (PVGP) is defined as the fraction of the solar irradiation received on the land available for a photovoltaic facility. The area of this usable land is calculated by a suitability factor which is determined by a variety of different geographical constraints. We extend this kind of analysis to floating photovoltaic (FPV) structures and consider the use of water surfaces with the same definitions and notations used to define the PVGP for systems installed on the ground. Results are very promising because of the large water surfaces available and because of the possibility to build floating structures which are more compact than land based photovoltaic plants. In fact, using just 1% of natural basins areas to install FPV plants, about 25% of the world electrical energy demand (in 2014) can be supplied. The PVGP is evaluated for two PVF raft geometries: one is a typical shed structure, the other is an innovative solution named gable.