Assessment of floating solar PV (FSPV) potential and water conservation: Case study on Rajghat Dam in Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Widely acceptable Photovoltaic (PV) technology faces the challenge of substantial land requirement. However, emerging PV technology over water bodies through floating solar panels can resolve this challenge and additionally leads to operation of the panels at low temperature, improving the energy generation efficiency and insulating water bodies to account for reduction in evaporation loss. In this work, simulation tasks are performed to assess the technical potential of floating photovoltaic power generation and discusses the sustainable system of floating solar PV technology in terms of prospective PV potential, conservation of water and potential to conserve agriculture land bank. The study estimates, power potential of 6513 MWp for 25% coverage of total submergence area at Rajghat dam located in the Southern part of Uttar Pradesh, India, and annual power generation of 10,623,501 MWh. The study also reports annual evaporation loss reduction of 1395 cubic meter per MWp (or 0.9 l per kWh) as an additional benefit. In terms of economic assessment, the Levelized cost of energy (LCOE) is reported as $ 0.036/kWh (INR 2.61/kWh) with 8.55% internal rate of return (IRR), a very encouraging parameter for large scale deployment of FSPV plants. Based on the findings, the study recommends FSPV installation in water reservoirs, justified by considerable savings in water evaporation losses and avoiding use of cultivable land for solar PV Installation purpose.