Session: 09-08-03 Floating Solar: Loads and Responses

Submission Number: 182198

Effect of Floater and Walkway on Estimation of Wind Load on Array of Floating Solar Panels 

Floating solar technology is rapidly gaining popularity around the world, with an expected capacity of over 10 GW by early 2026. One key advantage of floating solar photovoltaic (FSPV) systems is their ability to achieve higher efficiencies compared to land-based PV panels, primarily because water helps cool the panels more effectively.

In an FSPV park, solar panels are mounted on buoyant structures known as floaters. Thousands of these floaters are interconnected to create solar arrays. Additional buoyant structures, called walkways, are installed within the FSPV solar arrays to facilitate operation and maintenance. In recent years, utility-scale floating solar power plants have been installed in India. Notably, the world's largest solar power plant, with a capacity of 600 MW, has been commissioned in the upstream reservoir of the Omkareshwar Dam. In this project, walkways are provided after every four rows of solar panels. A typical array at the Omkareshwar project consists of 93 rows and 140 columns, totaling 13,020 solar panels spread across 13 acres of water body.

Researchers are continuously investigating various factors, including the estimation of wind loads on solar panels such as drag, lift forces, and hydrodynamic forces. Accurate estimation of these loads is crucial for minimizing the risk of failure. Numerical methods, such as computational fluid dynamics (CFD), are utilized to estimate the wind-induced drag and lift forces on these large arrays. Typically, CFD analyses are performed on simplified models, which have certain limitations and assumptions to reduce computational cost. These simplified models often exclude the floaters beneath the solar panels and do not account for the gaps between the panels.

The current study aims to fill these gaps in existing research. It presents a more realistic model that includes both walkways and floaters, reflecting their actual installation in floating solar arrays. The investigation conducts a CFD analysis on the actual panels mounted on the floaters, including the walkways. Various configurations of panels, including 24, 28, 32, 36, and 40 panels in a single column aligned with the wind direction, are modeled. The solar panels are inclined at an angle of 5 degrees. The drag and lift forces are estimated for different wind speeds (41, 28, and 14 m/s) to assess their effects under high, medium, and low wind conditions. The analysis is repeated for two distinct wind directions: one where the wind strikes the panel from below at a 180-degree angle, and another where the wind impacts the panel from above at a 0-degree angle. A parametric study is conducted to evaluate the influence of the floater and walkway. The findings of this study can be used to validate the simplified models.

Presenting Author: Prince Arora Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

Presenting Author Biography: Prince Arora, presently workiing as Chief Technology Officer at Floatex solar Pvt Ltd. He is also pursuing his PhD from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT Delhi) in floating solar technology. He has lead the team who has installed 1000 MW of floating solar power plant across India on various water bodies including dam reservoirs.

Authors:

Prince Arora Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Suhail Ahmad Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Badri Prasad Patel Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Shravil Aggarwal Floatex Solar Pvt Ltd
Gurvinder Singh Floatex Solar Pvt Ltd