A technical review on the energy yield estimation of offshore floating photovoltaic systems

Abstract

The uncertainty surrounding land availability for renewable energy deployment is a growing concern, creating a strong need for alternative solutions. In recent years, offshore floating photovoltaic (OFPV) systems have shown great promise in meeting global energy demands without competing for land resources. With ambitious targets like 3 GW in The Netherlands by 2030 and global projections exceeding 20 GW, OFPVs are emerging as a key solution at this critical juncture in energy transition. The significance of this technology is also reflected in the 95% increase in research outputs over the past five years. Despite this growth, insights remain scattered, with limited understanding of both the technology and performance. This review fills this gap by providing a comprehensive overview of OFPV systems, addressing both technical and performance aspects. Specifically, the objectives are to: provide detailed information about technology readiness levels, real-world deployments, and a new classification matrix to categorize different OFPV designs; identify key processes like dynamic motion, cooling, optical changes, and long-term degradation that impact energy yield (EY); and quantify the impact of each process on EY based on reported data. The findings reveal that dynamic motion (-0.4% to -15%) and long-term degradation (-2% to -20%) generally reduce EY, while cooling (-4% to +20%) and optical effects (-40% to +5%) can enhance or reduce EY depending on operating conditions. While these insights are crucial, several challenges remain, with the most pressing being the need to standardize measurement and modeling techniques for EY prediction to propel OFPVs towards large-scale commercialization.