Performance Assessment of Different Photovoltaic Technologies for Canal-Top and Reservoir Applications in Subtropical Humid Climate

The performance of photovoltaic (PV) panels installed on water bodies is affected by the local environmental conditions. The performance assessment of different PV technologies above water bodies is important for the selection of suitable PV technology for their large-scale installations and scope of improvement. The long-term performance assessment of water bodies-based PV systems is not reported widely. An experimental setup for the outdoor performance assessment of three commercially available PV technologies (Multicrystalline Silicon (Multi-Si), Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin layer (HIT), cadmium telluride (CdTe)) above water bodies was developed and measurements were carried out for six months. The performance of water bodies-based PV panels is compared with conventional ground-based PV panels. The reduction in evaporation loss by water bodies-based PV systems is not reported and has been experimentally and analytically quantified under this study. The average performance ratio of water bodies-based HIT and Multi-Si modules are found lower than their respective ground-based modules, which are contrary to the general perception of higher power generation by crystalline PV technologies on water bodies. However, the CdTe module above water bodies performed better when compared with ground-based CdTe module. Additionally, the reduction in evaporation by installing PV panels above the water surface is found to be 29.1%.