Preliminary design and economic analysis of a Floating Photovoltaic Platform: the case study of Pantelleria.

With the aim of becoming carbon neutral by 2050, the EU has adopted a policy to reduce CO2 emissions, the European Green Deal. Very important is the role of electricity production: there is a steady increase of interest in renewable energy sources. Forecasts consider onshore wind, offshore wind and solar photovoltaic as the most promising sources of clean energy: technologies related to the collection of energy from wind are already well developed, but thanks to lower initial investment costs and the wide availability of solar energy, a great development of photovoltaic technologies is expected. Floating PV is an interesting application, whose main advantages are an increase in efficiency due to a reduction in operating temperatures and the non-occupation of land. Many different designs of freshwater PV platforms have already been studied in Europe and worldwide, but the technologies for marine applications are very immature. The aim of this thesis is the preliminary design of a floating photovoltaic platform for marine use. The case study chosen is off the coast of the island of Pantelleria. In the first part, the state of the art of floating photovoltaic applications is analyzed: after studying how a photovoltaic park is composed, the main benefits and criticalities related to its implementation on water are discussed. Subsequently, the benefits of its integration with hydroelectric plants and offshore wind farms are analyzed. The preliminary design of the platform is started by evaluating the optimal arrangement of the photovoltaic panels on the platform for August, the period of maximum demand for electricity by the users of the island of Pantelleria. The inclination of the panels and the distance between two successive arrays are taken into account in order to evaluate the effect of the shadow in the first and last hours of the day and the performance in the central hours. Subsequently, the stability of the platform is analyzed: several models with different shapes and materials are studied to select the one that guarantees the best stability from a hydrostatic point of view, also taking into account the weight of the platform to evaluate the cost of the material. To do this, parameters such as the metacentric height, the righting moment and the RAO, calculated using the software Ansys Aqwa, are used. After that, the platform with the best characteristics was used to perform a multibody analysis, to understand its behavior when connected to other similar platforms in a matrix structure. Finally, an economic analysis is carried out: first a study is performed to select the most suitable materials for the application, considering technical characteristics and cost, and then the initial investment cost is estimated for an installation capable of meeting Pantelleria's needs during the period of maximum demand. Through the LCOE parameter, the cost of energy is evaluated and compared with the corresponding value of other installations to assess the convenience and feasibility of such a project.