Determining the optimal inclination and orientation angles of solar panels installed on ship

Retrofitting photovoltaic (PV) systems to ships can help reduce their emissions and cost of operation. One of the most determining aspects in PV systems efficiency is the combination of the inclination and orientation angles of the panels, because it will affect the global solar radiation received by the panels. This study aims to determine the monthly optimal combination of those angles. The ship location and direction during the cruise, time, and local weather conditions were the factors considered for the analysis. Six shipping lines in the territory of Japan were considered as case studies and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) analyses were employed to calculate the general solar radiation received by the panels based on the input factors. Comparisons between the outputs of the panels arranged to the optimal angles and those at flat position are presented in one-year calculation. The results show that for the long route ships, low or constantly zero inclination angles are favorable, while monthly adjusted angles can draw higher solar energy for short route ships.