Comparative Analyses Based on Field-measured Module Temperatures From a Utility-scale Floating Photovoltaic System
Abstract
This study presents two analyses based on field measurements of module-temperature from a 5 MW floating photovoltaic (FPV) power plant and from a ground-mounted reference system. First, we assess five FPV modules strategically distributed across the array to quantify spatial variation in water-mediated cooling. Second, we compare FPV and ground-mounted reference modules–both monofacial and bifacial–to estimate the FPV-induced energyyield benefit. Results show that the bifacial module exhibits the lowest median temperature among all modules analyzed; among monofacial units, the innermost FPV module has the lowest median temperature. Moreover, on a high irradiance day, the FPV–to–ground temperature difference remains below 10°C for 95.17% (bifacial) and 96.55% (monofacial) of the monitoring period, indicating a modest yet persistent thermal advantage for the floating photovoltaic installation.
Keywords
floating photovoltaics, module temperature, water-mediated cooling, monofacial and bifacial modules, thermal performance, energy-yield benefit, utility-scale photovoltaic system