Norwegian scientists recently tested a new floating photovoltaic system in a reservoir in Sri Lanka. This photovoltaic system is composed of composite beams supporting photovoltaic modules and high-density polyethylene pipes providing buoyancy.

Scientists from the Norwegian Institute of energy technology recently tested a new floating photovoltaic system designed and developed by Norwegian start-up company current solar on a piece of water in kilinoch, Sri Lanka.
The installed capacity of the photovoltaic system is 44kw. Composite beams are used to support the photovoltaic array, and high-density polyethylene pipes are used to provide buoyancy for the photovoltaic system.
The researcher said, "the composite beams are arranged from east to west and inclined by 15 degrees. The photovoltaic array is installed longitudinally to maximize the use of standard length HDPE pipes."
They used two different types of photovoltaic modules provided by rec group in Norway - rec solar n-peak 315 W and rec solar TwinPeak 295 W.
The researcher said, "the floating photovoltaic system is composed of 8 strings. Each string contains 18 modules, and each module type has two strings facing west and two strings facing east. Each pair of strings using the same type and facing the same module are connected in parallel to a separate maximum power point tracker (MPPT) on the same inverter."
The floating photovoltaic system adopts a 50KW inverter of SMA company, with a total of 6 maximum power point trackers (MPPT). The research team said that the floating photovoltaic system covers a small area and has a relatively open structure because the photovoltaic modules are close to the water surface.
The team compared the performance of this floating photovoltaic system with a 2.5kW photovoltaic system installed on the bank as a reference for one year. As a reference, the photovoltaic system consists of eight rec solar n-peak 315 w photovoltaic modules inclined 8 degrees to the south.
Scientists found that the floating photovoltaic system did not have any performance problems during operation. However, the reservoir where this was installed has dried up for some time.
They said, "compared with the reference ground photovoltaic system, the relative power generation difference of the floating photovoltaic system in the period of stable performance is 0.6%, which is within the allowable error range of installed capacity and is not considered to be a substantial difference in performance. The research results show that the overall performance of the system is the same as that of other floating photovoltaic systems located in similar climate regions."
Researchers introduced their findings in an article recently published in the journal solar energy, "performance and amphibious operation potential of new floating photovoltaic technology".
They pointed out in the article, "in order to evaluate the degradation and reliability of the floating photovoltaic system, it still needs three years of operation data, and we will submit the report in the later research stage."