Where Sun Meets Water : Floating Solar Handbook for Practitioners
Floating solar photovoltaic (FPV) technology is considered commercially viable, given the number of largescale projects that have been implemented. Challenges to its deployment remain, however, including the lack of a robust track record; uncertain...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Handbook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/418961572293438109/Where-Sun-Meets-Water-Floating-Solar-Handbook-for-Practitioners http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32804 |
| Summary: | Floating solar photovoltaic (FPV)
technology is considered commercially viable, given the
number of largescale projects that have been implemented.
Challenges to its deployment remain, however, including the
lack of a robust track record; uncertainty about costs;
uncertainty about the environmental impact; and the
technical complexity of designing, building, and operating
on and in water (especially electrical safety, anchoring and
mooring issues, and operation and maintenance). This
handbook provides developers, utilities, contractors,
investors, regulators, and decision makers with practical
guidelines on FPV projects. Most of the handbook focuses on
technical aspects relating to developing and operating FPV
projects; some sections focus on commercial and legal
aspects. Most of the observations are made for inland water
bodies or near-shore coastal FPV installations. Many
observations incorporate learning and opinions from the
industry, but they are also based on the experience from the
1 megawatt-peak (MWp) floating solar testbed in the Tengeh
Reservoir in Singapore. The testbed has a comprehensive
monitoring system that tracks more than 500 parameters in
real time, ranging from electrical to meteorological and
module-related factors. Given the early stage development of
the technology, this handbook cannot answer all questions
about FPV. Further studies and field data analysis are
needed to better understand some of the risks of FPV
systems, especially their environmental impact and long-term
performance. All recommendations provided in this report are
based on past and current experiences, which are limited to
several years of operating data for most projects. A longer
operating lifetime of FPV installations will lead to new and
improved recommendations and best practices; new
developments in technology,testing, certification, and
equipment/materials deployed are likely to evolve as the
industry grows and diversifies. An active dialogue among all
stakeholders, public and private, is required to further the
global understanding of FPV technologies and the development
of well-designed projects while minimizing possible negative
environmental and social impacts. Through this handbook, the
World Bank Group, the Energy Sector Management Assistance
Program (ESMAP), and the Solar Energy Research Institute of
Singapore (SERIS) hope to contribute to this goal and to
disseminate lessons learned from early projects. |
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