Floating photovoltaic (FPV) systems are one of the globally emerging technologies of renewable energy production that tend to balance the water–energy demand by effectively saving the evaporated water from reservoirs while generating electrical power. This study presents the performance analysis of a model FPV plant in an Indian reservoir. The Mettur dam reservoir located in Tamil Nadu, India with a hydroelectric power plant of 150-MW capacity is considered as a test case. The preliminary design of the FPV plant is proposed based on a detailed study of the key design elements and their suitability for Indian reservoirs. The proposed plant is numerically analysed for various tilt angles, mounting systems and tracking mechanisms in order to assess its potential power generation. A flat-mount system in landscape orientation was found to exhibit a high performance ratio. Further, a fixed-tilt FPV system with a panel slope of 10° and an FPV system with single-axis tracking were found to be suitable for the Mettur reservoir. Further, cost analysis of the FPV system is also presented along with the carbon-footprint estimation to establish the economic and environmental benefits of the system. The results show that the total potential CO2 saving by a FPV system with tracking is 135 918.87 t CO2 and it is 12.5% higher than that of a fixed-mount FPV system.

The world has a target of achieving 100% renewable energy by the end of the century. This paper presents a case study to establish a new floating photovoltaic park (FPV) in Egyptian dams. In Egypt, two hydroelectric dams, namely High Dam and Aswan Reservoir, together produce 2.65 GW in the Upper-Egypt region. The addition of 5 MW FPV for each dam is simulated using the Helioscope software application. A comparison between the performance of the dams with and without adding the FPV is presented in terms of the evaporation rate and total produced energy. A comparison between different types of FPV, namely polycrystalline, thin film and mono-crystalline in the two dams are also presented. The results show that installing FPV in the Egyptian dams will drive the dams to better performance in terms of carbon dioxide reduction, water-saving from reducing evaporation and increasing hydropower generation.

Floating photovoltaic system for reservoirs is a recent innovative technology that is highly advantageous in reducing evaporation while generating solar power. In addition, the integration of floating photovoltaic systems with the existing hydroelectric power plants will increase renewable power production. The present study aims to assess the electrical performance of floating photovoltaic systems in major reservoirs with existing hydroelectric power plants in India. The reservoirs with large water surface area were selected for the study, and a model floating photovoltaic system with a 5-MW capacity was designed for the selected reservoirs. The numerical analysis showed that installing floating photovoltaic systems will result in an annual energy yield of 160 GWh. Further, the systems also save 1.40 million cubic meters of water per day and also help in generating additional energy of 514.80 MWh/day from the saved water through its integration with hydroelectric power plants. A single-axis tracking mechanism to the floating photovoltaic systems will increase the annual energy generation by 11%. The detailed cost analysis and carbon emission analysis were also carried out. The results indicate that the tracking mechanisms increase the total installation cost of the systems. The annual carbon emission reduction from the floating photovoltaic systems accounts for about 3.30 million tons of CO2. The obtained results highlight the suitability of this innovative technology for installation in Indian reservoirs and its effectiveness in reducing evaporation and carbon emission. Graphic abstract

A hybrid microgrid system is modelled using HOMER-Pro software for real-time load data and available energy sources at Elapakkam village under Ramapuram substation, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India. Optimization approaches are applied for the selection of rating of the physical components, including solar PV systems, diesel generators, storage batteries, converters, inverters, and economic parameters such as system cost, fuel cost, and cash flow. The daily community load profile for the year 2018 was estimated based on data from TANGEDCO. Accordingly, the total load demand for the village represented 8760 lines of hourly load. The aim of this paper is to select an optimal-sized and reliable hybrid microgrid system to meet the load demands with available energy inputs. However, a comparison based on the cost of energy (COE) and the penetration of renewable energy is carried out for different case studies in the village with the economic-feasibility analysis of various countries. From this analysis, emissions cannot be completely avoided, they could be minimized by combining existing systems with renewable energy systems.

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