Floating Solar Panel Park Midterm Project Report Floating Ideas Team Team Members: Carlos Martin Delgado, Laura Ripoll Albaladejo, Stephan Fischer, Elizabeth Larsen, Amber Kauppila Novia University of Applied Sciences European Project Semester March 26, 2019 Abstract This Midterm Report will detail the full work of the Floating Ideas Team throughout the beginning ​ ​ of this semester. The team worked on many things outside of the main project including team building, project management, and ecodesign. The results of these efforts can be found in the following report. They will detail the process taken to form a proper team and also show the project management steps taken to fully detail the project and come up with tools to ensure that the project is done on time, within budget, and covers the full scope intended. In addition to these basics, all the research completed by the team, including research on panel type, placement, solar tracking, mirrors, cooling systems, the floating structure, anchoring methods, rotation, and the connection to the grid, are included. Each section will detail the results of the research and detail the best options for future use. After all the research was done, the team compiled the component options into four workable designs. From here, the team plans to further compile all ideas into one design to test and simulate. In addition, the team also plans to complete a full economic and environmental analysis of this final design. 1 Table of Contents 1. Introduction .………………………………………………………………………………..7 1.1 European Project Semester (EPS) 1.2 The Team 1.2.1 Team Members 1.3 Wärtsilä 1.4 Project Scope 2. Project Management ……………………………………………………………………...9 2.1 Team Building & Intercultural Communication 2.1.1 Team Contract 2.1.2 Onion Model 2.1.3 Tuckman Chart 2.1.4 Belbin Test 2.2 Basic Project Elements 2.3 Mission and Vision 2.4 Objectives 2.5 Work Breakdown Schedule (WBS) 2.6 Project Schedule 2.7 RACI Matrix 2.8 Budgeting 2.9 Conclusion 3. Background Information………………………………………………………………...22 3.1 Overview of How Solar Panels Work 3.2 Solar Cell Performance and Efficiency 3.3 Advantages and Challenges of Solar Energy 3.4 Progress of Floating Solar Park Technology Today 3.5 Floating Solar Park Examples 3.6 Conclusion 4. Research …………………………………………………………………………………..28 4.1 Previous Floating Solar Panel Team, Fall 2018 4.1.1 Summary 4.1.2 Topics in Need of Further Research 4.2 Defined Research Assumptions 4.3 Weather, Wind & Location 4.3.1 Clouds 4.3.2 Precipitation 4.3.3 Wind 4.3.4 Sun 4.4 Types of panels 4.5 Placement 4.6 Solar Tracking 4.7 Mirrors & Concentrators 2 4.8 Cooling Systems 4.8.1 Significance 4.8.2 Cooling System Techniques 4.9 Floating Structures and Materials 4.10 Anchoring 4.11 Rotation 4.12 Connection to the Grid 4.13 Cleaning and Maintenance 4.14 Conclusion 5. Design…………………………………………………………………………………...70 6. Results ………………………………………………………………………………….73 7. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………..74 References Appendices Appendix A: Team Contract Appendix B: Large Figures 3 List of Figures Figure 1. Team’s onion model ​ Figure 2. Basic project elements diagram ​ Figure 3. Work Breakdown Structure - Research Track ​ Figure 4. Work Breakdown Structure - Design Track ​ Figure 5. Work Breakdown Structure - Testing Track ​ Figure 6. Example of Trello Board ​ Figure 7. Example of Week’s Plan on Trello ​ Figure 8. Earned Value Analysis for SPI & CPI ​ Figure 9. Diagram illustrating the operation of a PV cell ​ Figure 10. PV cell I-V characteristic curve ​ Figure 11. Cloud Cover in Vaasa, Finland ​ Figure 12. Daylight hours over the course of a year in Vaasa ​ Figure 13. Average daily shortwave solar energy to reach the ground in Vaasa ​ Figure 14. Yearly Solar Irradiation and Energy Output for Europe ​ Figure 15. Electrical specifications of the panel ​ Figure 16. Current-Voltage curves for different temperatures and radiation levels ​ Figure 17. Total fixed panels’ energy production for every month according to simulation ​ Figure 18. Different rotation methods’ energy production for every month according to ​ simulation Figure 19. Connection of solar cells and bypass diodes in a standard solar panel ​ Figure 20. Diagram of position of panels ​ Figure 21. Dimensions of the chosen solar panel ​ Figure 22. Plot showing the relation between distance between panel and sun angle ​ Figure 23. Graph representing the variation of energy density depending on sun angle and ​ slope angle Figure 24. Graph representing the variation of energy density depending on sun angle and ​ slope angle Figure 25. Graph showing energy density for different sun angles with the optimus slope angle ​ Figure 26. Triangular Solar Tracker, spin cell, double solar tracker ​ Figure 27. Types of concentrated solar power solutions ​ Figure 28. Processing of Fresnel lenses ​ ​ Figure 29. Fresnel lens ​ Figure 30. Archimedes V-Trough PV Concentrator ​ ​ Figure 31. Cross-section V-Trough ​ ​ Figure 32. Vega energy WA layers ​ Figure 33. Diagram of a WVC system ​ Figure 34. Visual of high- pressure sprinkler head for solar panel cooling system ​ Figure 35. Visual layout of water sprinkler cooling system ​ Figure 36. Diagram of Photonic Crystal Cooling Material ​ Figure 37. PE-HD floating photovoltaic power plant parts ​ Figure 38. Submerged & floating photovoltaic systems ​ 4 Figure 39. Swimming Solar Park by Statkraft, Albania ​ ​ Figure 40. Chains Crossed Inwards ​ Figure 41. Chains Going Outwards ​ ​ Figure 42. Scheme of the typical connection to the grid of a solar park ​ Figure 43. Connection of different types of inverters ​ Figure 44. Design 1: Rotating circular structures ​ Figure 45. Design 2: Rectangular structure ​ ​ Figure 46. Design3: Square with circular rotating platform ​ ​ ​ Figure 47. Design 4: Triangle shaped inflatable structure ​ 5 List of Tables Table 1. Phases, characteristics and team leader roles of the Tuckman-Chart ​ Table 2. Belbin Test results ​ Table 3. RACI Matrix ​ Table 4. Standard Testing Condition specifications ​ Table 5. Detailed descriptions for each design ​ Table 6. Comparison between fixed and rotating panels ​ Table 7. Raw calculation data for 10 degrees sun angle ​ Table 8. Raw calculation data for 15 degrees sun angle ​ ​ ​ Table 9. Raw calculation data for 20 degrees sun angle ​ ​ ​ Table 10. Raw calculation data for 5 degrees sun angle ​ Table 11. Comparison of raw calculation data for different sun angles and slope angles ​ Table 12. Parameters of 3 different options for placing the panels ​ Table 13. Advantages and disadvantages of a WVC system ​ Table 14. Advantages and disadvantages of a water sprinkler cooling system ​ Table 15. Advantages and disadvantages of a forced water circulation cooling system ​ Table 16. Advantages and disadvantages of forced air circulation system. ​ Table 17. Advantages and disadvantages of transparent cooling coating ​ Table 18. Required characteristics of a floating material ​ Table 19. Options for design ​ 6 1. Introduction 1.1 European Project Semester (EPS) The European Project Semester (EPS) program is offered in eighteen universities throughout Europe and is a one semester project-based learning program designed for engineering students. Throughout the duration of 15 weeks, multinational teams are to work on an assigned project subject. This program allows students to improve their intercultural communication and teamwork skills while being challenged to solve real multidisciplinary problems. For this report, the EPS is hosted at Novia University of Applied Sciences. The Floating Ideas ​ Team has been assigned to the Floating Solar Panel Project to investigate the feasibility of a ​ floating solar panel park in Finland. An introduction to the project, objectives, and more detailed information about the project will be addressed in the report. 1.2 The Team The Floating Ideas Team is composed of five team members from different nationalities and ​ fields of study. An introduction of each team member is given below. 1.2.1 Team Members Carlos Martin Delgado I am an electrical engineering student at Valladolid College of Industrial Engineering. I have taken this EPS as a way to do my Final Degree Project at my university. My field of study is electricity in every phase: generation, transportation and use of it. Laura Ripoll Albaladejo My name is Laura Ripoll and I am from Sitges, a nice town near Barcelona. I study Mechanical Engineering in UPC Vilanova. After this project I will get my degree and I am looking forward to work on new sustainable and ecological projects. Stephan Fischer My name is Stephan Fischer from Kiel, Germany and I am earning my Bachelor’s Degree in International Sales and Purchase Engineering. After the mechanical engineering fundamentals my degree program focuses on strategic and operational activities in the commercial sector. ​ 7 Elizabeth Larsen My name is Elizabeth Larsen. I study Civil, Environmental, and Sustainable Engineering. I am originally from Minnesota, but study at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City, South Dakota. I will be earning my Bachelor’s Degree after the completion of this project. Amber Kauppila My name is Amber Kauppila and I am earning my Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Engineering. I am from Marquette, Michigan in the United States. Major focuses in my studies include waste to energy technology, sustainability, and remediation. 1.3 Wärtsilä Wärtsilä is a Finnish company that was founded in 1834 with locations in Helsinki, Vaasa, Turku, and other European locations. Wärtsilä is a world leader in smart technologies and product lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy businesses. The goal of Wärtsilä is to sustainably meet the world’s increasing energy demand through maximizing the environmental and economic performance of customers vessels and power plants (Wärtsilä, 2019). The Floating Ideas Team is fortunate to have Sören Hedvik, a current employee of Wärtsilä and ​ ​ ​ sustainability enthusiast, to serve as a contact for the company and to help assist with the ​ Floating Solar Panel Park project. 1.4 Project Scope Floating solar panels are an emerging technology that is becoming increasingly popular amongst countries that are shifting to renewable energy options.