Compressed air energy storage integrated with floating photovoltaic plant

Floating photovoltaic (FPV) systems are an emerging technology suitable for large plants, especially, on fresh water basins. We suggest integrating a CAES system to FPV using the pipes, necessary for the buoyancy of the modular raft structure, as a compressed air reservoir. The huge basin thermal inertia allows for an isothermal compression-expansion cycle, which promises high storage efficiency. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.