Floating photovoltaic module temperature estimation: Modeling and comparison

Abstract

As the power demand increases, photovoltaic (PV) energy evolves with time, and besides the traditional ground-mounted and roof-based PV systems, floating photovoltaic (FPV) systems have gained popularity due to higher efficiency from lower module temperatures and water evaporation reductions. This paper estimates and compares the temperature of the floating PV module using thermal, empirical, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models. The dynamic thermal model considers a three-level energy-balance equation for the FPV module. From that, a simplified thermal model has been developed, which requires fewer parameters and is easier to estimate the module temperature. Secondly, the least squares regression was used to generate the empirical model, resulting in the smallest possible root mean square error when comparing the observed and predicted values. Finally, the FPV system has been developed in the COMSOL environment for CFD analysis using the same heat transfer method. The estimated results from the models were compared with the actual data collected from a Brazilian site and the existing FPV and ground-mounted temperature models. The RMSE performance of the FPV models was comparable to that of the data obtained from an installed FPV system and performed much better than other similar FPV models and their ground-based counterparts.