Assessing the impact of tilt angle and height from the water surface on the thermal behavior of floating solar photovoltaics

Indonesia has a renewable energy potential of 419 GW, with the most considerable value coming from solar energy at 207.8 GW. However, installing solar PV on land or rooftops requires vast areas, prompting the development of floating solar PV (FPV) on water surfaces. FPV is claimed to have a cooling effect from the water, which enhances their efficiency. This research aims to determine the impact of tilt angle and height above the water surface on the performance of FPV by conducting experimental and numerical simulations. The results of this study are expected to provide insight into the relationship between tilt angle and height with PV performance and become useful for consideration in more efficient design of solar power generation systems. The experimental study involved sensor calibration, PV characterization, and prototype fabrication for land-based (GPV) and FPV. Additionally, numerical studies were conducted by simulating GPV and FPV using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software. The experimental results showed that the temperature of the FPV was approximately 4.16 °C lower than the GPV. Increasing the height from the water surface increases the cell temperature by approximately 2.6 °C and 1.7 °C for every 10 cm for FPV and GPV, respectively. Increasing the tilt angle decreases solar cell temperature by approximately 1.74 °C and 0.68 °C for every 5° for FPV and GPV, respectively. This phenomenon occurs due to effective natural convection, which increases the FPV efficiency by 0.8%. These results agree with the simulation that a greater tilt angle leads to lower panel temperatures due to less absorbed solar radiation and more optimal heat transfer. Higher panel heights caused higher panel temperatures due to the reduced cooling effect of water. FPV performance was better than GPV ones, with increased efficiency by 3.25% to 3.53%.