A Seminar Report on

FLOATING SOLAR PANELS

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the award of the degree of

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
In

ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING

by
B.JYOTHIRMAYEE
(134GIA0224)
Under the Guidance of
Mr.T.ARAVIND BABU, M.Tech
Assistant Professor

Electrical and Electronics Engineering

SRINIVASA RAMANUJAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
ANANTAPUR
(Affiliated to JNTUA and Approved by AICTE, New Delhi)

2017
 SRINIVASA RAMANUJAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
ANANTHAPURAMU
(Affiliated to JNTUA and Approved by AICTE, New Delhi)

Certificate
This is to certify that a seminar report entitled FLOATING SOLAR PANELS is the
bonafide work carried out by B.JYOTHIRMAYEE bearing Roll Number 134G1A0224 in
partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Technology in
Electrical and Electronics Engineering during the academic year 2016-2017.

GUIDE Head of the Department

Mr.T.ARAVIND BABU, M.Tech Dr.G.SREENIVASAN

Assistant Professor
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am fortune enough to have an opportunity to present report on FLOATING SOLAR

PANELS. I take this opportunity to remember and acknowledge the cooperation and extended
by several individuals, out of which this report evolved.
I wish to express my deep sense of gratitude to our seminar guide, Mr.T.ARAVIND
BABU, Assistant professor, Dept. of EEE, Srinivasa Ramanujan Institute of Technology,
Anatapuramu for his valuable guidance to do this seminar.
I take this opportunity to thank Dr.G.SREENIVASAN, Head of the department, Dept. of
EEE, for his unfailing support at every stage of this seminar.
I also express my sincere thanks to Dr.K.SUBBA REDDY, Principal, Srinivasa
Ramanujan Institute of Technology, Anantapuramu for his moral support.
I also express my sincere thanks to Mr.A.SAMBASHIVA REDDY, Chairman of Srinivasa
Ramanujan Institute of Technology, Anantapuramu for providing excellent lab facilities to do the
lab.
My heart full thanks to all our friends who has helped us immensely in the completion of
seminar.
Last but not least, I would like to express my deep sense of gratitude and earnest thanks
giving to my dear parents for their support and hear full cooperation in doing this seminar. In the
end I would also like to thank all my peers for all the support and help they have provided
throughout the seminar work.
I am very much grateful to all faculty members of Electrical & Electronics Engineering
Department, who helped me directly and indirectly, to make this seminar a successful one.
 CONTENTS

CHAPTERS PAGE

1. INRODUCTION 1
2. CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS
3. WORKING
4. PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF FLOATING SOLAR SYSTEM
5. ADVANTAGES OF FLOATING SOLAR PANELS
6. DISADVANTAGES OF FLOATING SOLAR PANELS
7. SURVEY RESULTS
8. CONCLUSION

REFERENCES
 ABSTRACT

Floating solar panels is an innovative concept in energy technology to meet the

needs of our time. This fusion is a new concept for technology development. With increasing in
power demand and depletion of fossil fuels leads to shift our focus to renewable energy sources.
Solar power plays a dominant role in the world and can be installed in any place. But the major
issue with the solar energy is the requirement of land which is scarcely available and even costly
to get. This is a hybrid solar power built on water. This water and waste water utilities can
benefit. These floating solar panels can be installed on any water bodies like ponds, lagoons or
lakes which will decrease the cost of the land, raise the amount of power generation with the
cooling effect of water and it provides additional safety in earth quake and flooding areas.

A photovoltaic (PV) floating power generation results from the combination of PV plant
technology and floating technology. The floating solar power involves solar panels and other
components like floating system, mooring system, PV system and underwater cables that are
fitted onto a platform with hollow plastic or tin drums that enable it to float on water. It is a new
reliable and cost effective solution to turn bodies of water into solar power plants. Floating power
system can represent a serious alternative to general overland solar systems.
 CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION

The idea of floating solar panels is to build the photovoltaic system over water bodies
instead of conventional places such as rooftops or open lands. This relatively new concept has
been trialled and implemented in regions blessed with abundance of sunlight such as Australia,
India and Israel. Environmentalists have always campaigned solar energy as a clean and
sustainable source of energy. However, construction of solar power plants requires large plots of
open lands. This makes the notion of harvesting solar energy infeasible in some countries, where
real estate is extremely expensive due to both scarcity of land and high population density. That is
why, we are looking for a creative solution to install solar but not have to take up valuable
vineyard land. Solar Floatovoltaics provide us the opportunity to offset 100% of our electricity
needs and requires minimal maintenance. By building solar panels over water bodies, valuable
land can be used for other purposes. So water and wastewater utilities can benefit from new
floating solar power systems. Installing solar panels floating on lakes, lagoons or ponds, the
panels are naturally cooled, resulting in improved power production. The good news is that water
facilities in several states are taking control of their energy costs by turning to solar photovoltaic
(PV) power.
Solar energy is energy produced by sun created through a thermonuclear process and this
process crates heat and electromagnetic radiations. These electromagnetic radiations have the
energy that reaches the earth. As solar energy is an indirect source of energy so we need two
components: one the collector and other the storage device initially. The collector will collect the
radiations coming from the sun and convert it in the form of electrical energy. One the other hand
we require storage unit since the radiations keeps varying throughout the day and during night
hours there will be no radiations. One of the major drawbacks of a solar panel is that it is unable
to convert more than one quarter of the incident energy (solar radiation) into electricity. The most
efficient commercial solar panel has a conversion efficiency of about 22%. Thus, it is only
feasible to install these panels in large numbers, to reap any kind of return-on-investment. The
key factor to be considered while designing large scale solar power plants is the effective use of
the available space. This can be associated with the large sum of money that the organizations
have to spend on buying or leasing the land. So any concept for smarter land use is always
welcomed.
Now with the concept of floating solar we are enchasing the availabilities of water bodies
in different regions. Since, with this idea we do not have to utilize a large area, so the problem of
land for the solar plant can be easily solved. Also, keeping in mind the fact that land acquisition
in India is not an easy task, this sort of an idea keep itself away from disputes. We all know, that
during summers canals face the threat of drying up due to which irrigation problems arise. With
floating solar, around 70% of the evaporation could be prevented which would in turn help in the
retaining sufficient amount of waters in the canals and small river bodies. Also, algae formation
in the water bodies can be reduced as the amount of sunlight entering into the water would
decrease which in turn reduce the photosynthesis process to produce less algae in water. This
makes water less contaminated and helps the aquatic life in sustaining. By installing solar panels
over water bodies the panels are naturally cooled, resulting in improved power production
performance. The cooler environment also reduces stress on the system, extending the systems
lifespan. This is why Floating solar panels are becoming increasingly popular around the world.
No land requirement for installation of floating solar panels, significant reduction in solar panel
price and increasing demand for clean fuel energy is anticipated to drive the floating solar panels
market during the forecast period. Incentives such as subsidies and tax benefits along rent
benefits to reservoir owners to further compliment the floating solar panels market growth.
Floating solar panels are major and easy practised on dam reservoir for hydroelectric power
generation due to transportation development and electricity generation.
Fig 1.1: General layout of floating solar panels

The figure 1.1 shown above is the generally used solar power plant. The system is easy to
install and can be adapted to any electrical configuration, is scalable from low to high power
generation, and requires no tools or heavy equipment. It is also eco-friendly, fully recyclable, has
low environmental impact and is cost effective.
 CHAPTER-2
CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS

Floating solar is a concept which extends the theory of Solar Power Generation only and
through some structural modifications we aim to obtain higher efficiency of the plant. So, its
very important or understands the various components that will be used in addition to the already
used panels and mounting structures. The constructional details of the various components are as
follows:
1) SOLAR PV MODULE
Solarcells are the building blocks of a solar panel. Solarcells are joined together to make
one solar panel at peak power production. Front side of module is covered by tempered &
textured clear glass with low iron content resulting in efficient sunlight absorption. Back side is
covered by EVA potent sheet to provide maximum protection from the severe environmental
conditions. High torsion and corrosion resistantanodized aluminum frame provides structural
strength and ease of installation. The junction box of module is located back side. In each module
junction box there are two terminals both negative & positive terminals. To minimize the loss in
output when shading occurs a Bypass diodes which is connected to out terminal of the module.
The aluminum frame of Module contains holes in suitable positions for mounting. A photovoltaic
module is a packaged interconnected assembly of photovoltaic cells, which converts sunlight into
energy. The modules are PID protected.
2) STRING INVERTER
There are various types of inverter which are used in Photovoltaic systems. Inverters are
distinguished according to the inverter operation, voltage and current control scheme. In most
cases due to some advantages in grid-connected inverters, current control scheme is applied.
Advantages are higher power factor, better transient current suppression; short circuit current is
limited to rated AC current. The Grid connected inverter range is state of the art equipment with
robust control platform, high efficiency, high availability, low maintenance features built with
quality components. Grid connected inverter is single / three phase output inverter system. Solar
photovoltaic panels convert solar energy into electrical energy as AC power. This AC power is
used for the load through inverter. The inverter position is considered over the floating platform.
The inverters (3-phase) will be designed with innovative, cutting-edge technology. Optimized
efficiency factor, higher availability (by proven long life components), the latest control
procedure are key features. Some key features are:
a) Light & compact
b) Highest efficiency (97.9%)
c) Easy installation
d) Outdoor type (IP65)
e) Maintenance free
3) MODULE MOUNTING STRUCTURE
The module mounting structure is designed for holding suitable number of modules in
series over rooftop. The frames and supporting structures are made of galvanized steel post, hot
dip galvanized material of suitable sections of angle, channel, tubes or any other sections
conforming to meet the design criteria. All fasteners considered for fastening modules with this
structure are of very good quality of stainless steel. The array structure is designed in such a way
that it will occupy minimum space without sacrificing the output from SPV panels at the same
time.
4) CABLE AND CONNECTORS
Cables will be extremely robust and resist high mechanical load and abrasion. High
temperature resistance and excellent weatherproofing characteristics provide a long service life to
the cables used. The connectors with high current capacity and easy mode of assembly are to be
used for the connections of the power plant cables.
5) FRP FLOATING PLATFORM
A floating platform would characteristically be made of hollow sections for effective
buoyancy to self weight ratio. The most advantageous is a circular section in this regard. An
added advantage will be if the material itself is of lower density. The material will be fabricated
to any desired shape and can be joined together by chemical bonding. The platform will be
practically maintenance free as there will be no corrosion. Another material that may be looked
into is Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic (GRP).This material is comparable to steel in strength
properties. It is about 4 times lighter than steel. Pipes made of GRP can be used in construction of
the floating Platform. GRP Pipes will be manufactured using Isophthalic Polyester Resin. The
GRP Pipes will be fabricated by Filament Winding Process. All outside surfaces of the pipes will
be pigmented for protection against U.V. Ray of Sunlight. Mooring system of floating platform is
with Wire Rope Sling.
6) MOORING ARRANGEMENT
The assembled Platform has to be held in a position allowing for slight movement due to
change in water level and wind blowing on it. This can be easily done with nylon ropes lashed at
each corner and tied to bollards on the bank.
7) ACCESS GANGWAY FROM THE BANK
A permanent approach gangway from the bank may be dispensed with for cost saving and
a small boat may be used for occasional purpose of cleaning the panels and maintenance. By
placing the platform close to the bank, no boat will even be required.
8) ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS ON THE BANK
Each module will carry four PV Panels having a generating capacity of 1kW. The module
will be complete with maintenance walkways. Ten such modules will be required to produce
10kW of power. The modules will be arranged in two rows of five modules each. The
interconnection will be through pins so that slight rotational movements caused by wind or
ripples in water surface are permitted which will relieve stresses in the Platform members.
Fig 2.1: Constructional details of floating solar panels

The main float is constructed on high-density thermoplastic (HDPE) and is set at a 12

degree angle to support a standard PV solar module. A secondary non-slip HDPE float is then
used to link the main floats together and provide a platform for maintenance and added buoyancy
as illustrated in above fig 2.1.
PV panels are well designed in curved mirrored film which concentrates sunlight on thin
line, which requires less amount of silicon and which reduces panel size, thus decreasing in cost
is evaluated in solar panels. Production cost of floating solar panels is usually less, due to less
amount of steel utilization and in manufacturing of panels which have comparably reduced
conventional panels cost. These floating solar panels can be mount in industrial water basins for
water treatment, and above industrial ponds floating solar panels are also fixed, to provide
electricity to water treatment plant of the pond.
 CHAPTER-3
WORKING

Conversion of solar energy into electrical energy is based on a phenomenon called Photovoltaic
effect. When semiconductor materials are exposed to light, the some of the photons of light ray
are absorbed by the semiconductor crystal which causes significant number of free electrons in
the crystal. This is the basic reason of producing electricity due to photovoltaic effect.
Photovoltaic cell is the basic unit of the system where photovoltaic effect is utilized to produce
electricity from light energy. Silicon is the most widely used semiconductor material for
constructing photovoltaic cell. The silicon atom has four valence electrons. In a solid crystal,
each silicon atom shares each of its four valence electrons with another nearest silicon atom
hence creating covalent bond between them. In this way silicon crystal gets a tetrahedral lattice
structure.
While light ray strikes on any materials some portion of light is reflected, some portion is
transmitted through the materials and rest is absorbed by the materials. Same thing happens when
light falls on silicon crystal. If the intensity of incident light is high enough, sufficient numbers of
photons are absorbed by the crystal and these photons in turn excite some of the electrons of
covalent bonds. These excited electrons then get sufficient energy to migrate from valence band
to conduction band. As the energy level of these electrons is in conduction band they leave from
the covalent bond leaving a hole in the bond behind each removed electron. These are called free
electrons move randomly inside the crystal structure of the silicon. These free electrons and holes
have vital role in creating electricity in photovoltaic cell. These electrons and holes are hence
called light-generated electrons and holes respectively. These light generated electrons and holes
cannot produce electricity in the silicon crystal alone. There should be some additional
mechanism to do that. When a pentavalent impurity such as phosphorus is added to silicon the
four valence electrons of each pentavalent phosphorous atom are shared through covalent bond
with four neighbour silicon atoms and fifth valence electron does not get any chance to create
covalent bond. This fifth electron then relatively loosely bounded with its parent atom. Even in
room temperature the thermal energy available in the crystal is large enough to disassociate these
relatively loose fifth electrons from their parent phosphorus atom. While this fifth relatively loose
electron is disassociated from parent phosphorus atom, the phosphorous atom immobile positive
ions. The said disassociated electron becomes free but does not have any incomplete covalent
bond or hole in the crystal to be re-associated. These free electrons come from pentavalent
impurity are always ready to conduct current in semiconductor. Although there are numbers of
free electrons but still the substance is electrically neutral as the number of positive phosphorous
ions locked inside the crystal structure is exactly equal to the number of the free electrons come
out from them. The process of inserting impurities in the semiconductor is known as doping and
the impurities are doped are known as dopants. The pentavalent dopants which donate their fifth
free electron to the semiconductor crystal are known as donor. The semiconductors doped by
donor impurities are known as n-type or negative type semiconductors as there are plenty of free
electrons which are negatively charged by nature.
When instead of pentavalent phosphorous atoms, trivalent impurity atoms like boron are
added to a semiconductor crystal totally opposite type of semiconductor will be created. In this
case some silicon atoms in the crystal lattice will be replaced by boron atoms in other words the
boron atoms will occupy the positions of replaced silicon atoms in lattice structure. Three valance
electrons of boron atom will pair with valance electron of three neighbour silicon atoms to create
three complete covalent bonds. For this configuration there will be a silicon atom for each boron
atom, fourth valance electron of which will not find any neighbour valance electrons to complete
its fourth covalent bond. Hence this fourth valance electron of these silicon atoms remains
unpaired and behaves as incomplete bond. So there will be lack of one electron in the incomplete
bond and hence an incomplete bond always attracts electron to fulfill this lack. As such there is a
vacancy for electron to sit. This vacancy is conceptually called positive hole. In a trivalent
impurity doped semiconductor a significant number of covalent bonds are continually broken to
complete other incomplete covalent bond. When one bond is broken one hole is created in it.
When one bond in completed, the hole in it disappears. In this way one hole appears to disappear
another neighbour hole. As such holes are having relative motion inside the semiconductor
crystal. In the view of that it can said that holes also can move freely as free electrons inside
semiconductor crystal. As each of the holes can accept electron, the trivalent impurities are
known as acceptor dopants and the semiconductors doped with acceptor dopants are known as p-
type or positive type semiconductor. In n-type semiconductor mainly the free electrons carry
negative charge and in p-type semiconductor mainly the holes in turn carry positive charge
therefore free electrons in n-type semiconductor and free holes in p-type semiconductor are called
majority carrier in n-type semiconductor and p-type semiconductor respectively.
There is always a potential barrier between n-type and p-type material. This potential barrier is
essential for working of a photovoltaic or solar cell. While n-type semiconductor and p-type
semiconductor contact each other, the free electrons near to the contact surface of n-type
semiconductor get plenty of adjacent holes of p-type material. Hence free electrons in n type
semiconductor near to its contact surface jump to the adjacent holes of p-type material to
recombine. Not only free electrons, valence electrons of n-type material near the contact surface
also come out from the covalent bond and recombine with more nearby holes in p-type
semiconductor. As the covalent bonds are broken, there will be number of holes created in n-type
material near the contact surface. Hence, near contact zone the holes in the p-type materials
disappear due to recombination on the other hand holes appear in n-type material near same
contact zone. This is as such equivalent to a migration of holes from p-type to n-type
semiconductor. So as soon as one n-type semiconductor and one p-type semiconductor come into
contact the electrons from n-type will transfer to p-type and holes from p-type will transfer to n-
type. The process is very fast but does not continue forever. After some instant there will be layer
of negative charge (excess electrons) in the p-type semiconductor adjacent to the contact along
the contact surface. Similarly there will be a layer of positive charge (positive ions) in the n-type
semiconductor adjacent to contact along the contact surface. The thickness of these negative and
positive charge layer increases up to a certain extend but after that no more electrons will migrate
from n-type semiconductor to p-type semiconductor. This is because, while any electron of n-type
semiconductor try to migrate over p-type semiconductor it faces a sufficiently thick layer of
positive ions in n-type semiconductor itself where it will drop without crossing it. Similarly hole
will no more migrate to n-type semiconductor from p-type. The holes when try to cross the
negative layer in p-type semiconductor these will recombine with electrons and no more
movement toward n-type region. In other words, negative charge layer in p-type side and positive
charge layer in n-type side together form a barrier which opposes migration of charge carriers
from its one side to other. Similarly, holes in the p-type region are held back from entering the n-
type region. Due to positive and negative charged layer there will be an electric field across the
region and this region is called depletion layer. Now let us come to the silicon crystal. When light
ray strikes on the crystal some portion of the light is absorbed by the crystal and consequently
some of the valance electrons are excited and come out from the covalent bond resulting free
electron-hole pairs. If light strikes on n-type semiconductor the electrons from such light-
generated electron-hole pairs are unable to migrate to p-region since they are not able to cross the
potential barrier due to repulsion of electric field across depletion layer. At the same time the
light-generated holes cross the depletion region due to attraction of electric field of depletion
layer where they recombine with electrons and then the lack of electrons here is compensated by
valance electrons of p-region and this makes as many number of holes in the p-region. As such
light generated holes are shifted to p-region where they are trapped because once they come to
the p-region cannot be able to come back to n-type region due to repulsion of potential barrier. As
the negative charge (light generated electrons) is trapped in one side and positive charge (light
generated holes) is trapped in opposite side of a cell there will be a potential difference between
these two sides of the cell. This potential difference is typically 0.5 V. This is how a photovoltaic
cells or solar cells produce potential difference.
An Array of solar panels are used to generate electricity. The output of solar panel is of
DC (Direct current) nature. The output of each solar panel is combined through the combiner
who has two input ports and two output ports and has connected with the lightening arresters and
store in the storage device. Output of the combiner is attached to inverter which converts DC into
3-phase AC. The 3 phase AC power is then given to meet the load demand or fed to grid.
Now introducing the concept of floating to the above previous theory is what we aim to
do. With this, the basic idea is that, we float the solar panels over the water bodies. With this not
only we can solve the problem of land as we have discussed earlier but there are many other
environmental benefits that we can accomplish.
 CHAPTER-4
Performance Analysis of Floating solar System

100KW FLOATING PV SYSTEM :

The 100kW floating PV system is forming a 33 tilt and its installed capacity is 99.36kW,
composed of 414 240W modules. Below figure represents the generation quantity and capacity
factor of the 100kW floating PV system based on the data acquired between January 2012 to
December 2012. The standards for generation quantity was the amount read on the meters at
VCB, and the capacity factor was calculated under the following equation.

Capacity factor (%) =

Monthly average generated quantity during January 2012 to December 2012 was 10,853kWh,
and the average capacity factor was 14.9%. The maximum monthly generated quantity was
13,792kWh in October and the minimum was 8,224kWh in December. For capacity factor, the
maximum capacity factor was 18.7% in October and the minimum was 11.1% in December.

Figure: 100kW Floating solar System Performance Analysis Graph

 CHAPTER-5
ADVANTAGES OF FLOATING SOLAR PLANTS

These panels are low on maintenance, which helps to manage their cost in the long run.
Furthermore, these panels can be moved easily depending on the suns position.
Another benefit of these panels is that they help to save water by decreasing the amount
of water evaporation.
These plants also inhibit algae growth in the water, leading to easier maintenance of the
reservoir.
With floating solar panels, the reservoir owner can benefit significantly from the rent and
business tax earned due to these panels.
In addition to this, it allows the operators of the floating solar plant to rent the reservoir
cheaply and without any reclamation cost.
The water body, being open and wide, ensures zero loss in power output due to shadow
cover.
The lack of a solar tracking system, further reduces the cost of the overall setup. This can
be used to mitigate the extra money spent on the special structure.
Another added advantage of floating PV panels is that, it is naturally cooled by the
constant winds and the evaporation of water.
The manufacturer of the floating fixture claims that their structure is strong enough to
withstand storms and even typhoons, which is quite common. (By strong they mean that
the panels will remain intact).
Finally, these panels require just minimal maintenance. There is no need for weekly
cleaning of the panels, since there are no trees for leaves to fall off from and almost zero
chance of dust covering the panels.
 CHAPTER-6
DISADVANTAGES OF FLOATING SOLAR PLANTS

The key disadvantage of the floating solar panels is the large cost of installation.
Moreover, securing profitability at the same time is also challenging.
Another con associated with these panels is that they cannot be installed in the sea as the
waves prevent their angular position and the wind speed impacts the amount of electricity
generation.
The floating solar panels may affect the aquatic ecosystem as a whole. Although the structure
is non-toxic, it does prevent sunlight from entering the surface of the water. It causes a
shadow effect which can affect the lives of aquatic creatures and plants.
 CHAPTER-7
EXISTING PLANTS

World largest ongoing floating solar panels Yamakura Dam reservoir in Japan with a
generating capacity of 13.7 MW is expected to complete by the end of 2016. The electricity
generated by the plant will help to power almost 5,000 families.
Asia Pacific, led by India, Japan and China floating solar panels market size is expected to
witnessed of strong demand for floating solar panels to meet there increasing energy demand.
Asia Pacific is expected to dominate the stationary floating solar panel market owing to the
investment flow by the top solar panel manufacturers
Major key players operating solar floating panels market share are GEITS, SPG Solar,
Sharp Corporation, Suntech Power Holdings Co., Trina Solar Limited, Kyocera Corporation,
Japan Mega Solar Power Co., Trina Solar Limited, Sunengy and Solaris Energy.
FIG: A floating solar on 10% of lake Okanagan could generate 3000 GWh a year, which is
enough to power 2,70,000 households.
Indias leading hydro power generator National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) is
planning to set up a 50 MW solar photovoltaic project over the water bodies in the southern state
of Kerala.
Fig: Floating solar array of India.

Creatively using the space, India has already installed 10 megawatt solar plants on top of
many canals. Now, India has taken it one step further and plans to build the worlds largest
floating solar power plant on one of the large stretches of water in Kerala, India.

Experts calculated the approximate cost of the project would be about $64-$72 million.
They also found that infrastructure costs and the unit cost of energy production for this floating
solar power plant will be about 15% lower than land-based projects. This way, the government
and energy company developers are saving both cash and valuable real estate. Solar panels when
installed on a floating platform also overcome the heating problem as the solar panels installed on
land face reduction of yield when the ground heats up.
Fig: At a winery in Californias Napa County, a combined 477 kilowatt land and floating solar
system has been running successfully for the last three plus years on a retention pond.
 CHAPTER-8
CONCLUSION

Solar Generating Stations require disproportionately large land area compared to other
generating modes. In the view of the demand of land in general, setting up large solar Stations
faces the problem of land acquisition in most part of the country. On the other hand, innumerable
water bodies, large and small, are available throughout the country. If small Panels of solar
Stations can be developed, which would require a small depth of water for floatation, they may
be put up in ponds wherever needed. The concept of FLOATING SOLAR PANELS is innovative
because, about 70% of the earths surface is covered with water. So it is logical to use it to
generate cleaner electricity. Floating solar panels above water bodies helps to prevent wastage of
solar energy in raising water temperature and reducing evaporation.
Therefore, this concept should be encouraged and further developed upon. With a reliable
power output and high quality standards, adopters of floating solar installations can be assured of
the long-term performance of solar panels.
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[1] Haman Photovoltaic Power Plant , http://haman-solar.iptime.org/.

[2] K-water, Groundwork research for Commercialization of Floated Photovoltaic System,
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systems compared with Overland PV Systems, CES-CUBE 2013, Guam, USA, (2013) July 19.
[4] Cheam, J. (3 November, 2011). Singapore to set up $11 million floating solar project
in reservoir. Retrieved from Eco-Business: http://www.ecobusiness.
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[5] Moharrama, K. A., Abd-Elhady, M. S., Kandil, H. A., & El-Sherif, H. (2013).
Enhancing the performance of photovoltaic panels by water cooling. Ain Shams
Engineering Journal, 869-877.
Woody, T. (19 April, 2011). Solar on the Water. Retrieved from The New York
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