Performance of floating photovoltaic/thermal system: Experimental assessment

An unfamiliar design of photovoltaic (PV)/solar pond was presented in the article. This design integrated the floating PV panel technology with the solar pond technology. This new design is called the Floating Photovoltaic Solar Pond (FPVSP). The design aims to reduce water evaporation from water bodies, cool solar panels, and store solar energy in the pond. To assess the effectiveness of the innovative system, two experimental models were built for this purpose. The first model includes the PV/thermal collector floating upon the pond and the second model is a solar panel with the same specifications of the solar panel for the first model. The outcomes confirmed that the presence of the glass cover increases the overall efficiency of the system, the temperature of the floating solar panel, and the average water temperature of the solar pond. Also, the glass cover reduces the electrical efficiency of the solar panel. The increase in the depth of the pond slightly affected the solar panel temperature for the glazed and un-glazed systems and decreased the water temperature of the solar pond. On the other hand, increasing the depth of the pond rises the electrical generation from the solar panels. The angle of inclination of the floating solar panel over the pond was an influential factor in determining the electric power produced. Finally, the proposed system recorded a high energy efficiency of 49% compared to the efficiency of the classical solar ponds, which does not exceed 20%.