Michigan Technological University Digital Commons @ Michigan Tech Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports 2021 QUANTIFYING THE VALUE OF FOAM-BASED FLEXIBLE FLOATING SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS Koami Soulemane Hayibo Michigan Technological University, [email protected] Copyright 2021 Koami Soulemane Hayibo Recommended Citation Hayibo, Koami Soulemane, "QUANTIFYING THE VALUE OF FOAM-BASED FLEXIBLE FLOATING SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS", Open Access Master's Thesis, Michigan Technological University, 2021. https://doi.org/10.37099/mtu.dc.etdr/1176 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/etdr Part of the Other Engineering Commons, Power and Energy Commons, and the Water Resource Management Commons QUANTIFYING THE VALUE OF FOAM-BASED FLEXIBLE FLOATING SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS By Koami Soulemane Hayibo A THESIS Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE In Electrical and Computer Engineering MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2021 © 2021 Koami Soulemane Hayibo This thesis has been approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Thesis Advisor: Joshua M. Pearce Committee Member: Paul L. Bergstrom Committee Member: David Watkins Department Chair: Glen E. Archer Table of Contents List of figures .......................................................................................................................v List of tables ...................................................................................................................... vii Preface.............................................................................................................................. viii Acknowledgements ..............................................................................................................x List of Symbols .................................................................................................................. xi Abstract ............................................................................................................................ xiv 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................1 1.1 Contextualization ..............................................................................................1 1.2 Goal and Scope .................................................................................................1 1.3 Structure of the study .......................................................................................2 2 A review of the value of solar methodology with a case study of the U.S. VOS .......3 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................3 2.2 Methods and Theory .........................................................................................5 2.2.1 Avoided Plant O&M – Fixed Cost (V1) ..............................................5 2.2.2 Avoided Plant O&M – Variable Cost (V2): ........................................6 2.2.3 Avoided Fuel Cost (V3) .......................................................................6 2.2.4 Avoided Generation Capacity Cost (V4): ............................................7 2.2.5 Avoided Reserve Capacity Cost (V5): .................................................8 2.2.6 Avoided Transmission Capacity Cost (V6): ........................................8 2.2.7 Avoided Distribution Capacity Cost (V7): ..........................................9 2.2.8 Avoided Environmental Cost (V8): ...................................................10 2.2.9 Avoided health liability cost (V9):.....................................................10 2.2.10 Value of solar (VOS) .........................................................................11 2.3 Sensitivity .......................................................................................................12 2.3.1 Number of years in analysis period ..................................................15 2.3.2 PV system degradation rate ..............................................................15 2.3.3 Utility discount rate...........................................................................15 2.3.4 Environmental cost ...........................................................................15 2.3.5 Health liability cost ...........................................................................16 2.3.6 Other parameters ...............................................................................16 2.3.7 Sensitivity Analysis ..........................................................................16 2.4 Results and Discussion ...................................................................................17 2.4.1 Avoided O&M fixed cost (V1) ..........................................................17 iii 2.4.2 Avoided O&M variable cost (V2) .....................................................18 2.4.3 Avoided fuel cost (V3) .......................................................................19 2.4.4 Avoided generation capacity cost (V4) ..............................................20 2.4.5 Avoided reserve capacity cost (V5) ...................................................21 2.4.6 Avoided transmission capacity cost (V6) ..........................................22 2.4.7 Avoided distribution capacity cost (V7) ............................................23 2.4.8 Avoided environmental cost (V8) ......................................................24 2.4.9 Avoided health liability cost (V9) ......................................................25 2.4.10 Value of Solar (VOS) ........................................................................26 2.5 Future Work ...................................................................................................31 2.6 Conclusions ....................................................................................................32 3 Water Conservation Potential of Self-Funded Foam-Based Flexible Surface-Mounted Floatovoltaics .....................................................................................................................34 3.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................34 3.2 Materials and Methods ...................................................................................36 3.2.1 Data Collection .................................................................................36 3.2.1.1 Lake Evaporation Data ...................................................36 3.2.1.2 FPV Panel Data Collection .............................................37 3.2.2 Water Evaporation Modeling ............................................................39 3.2.3 Energy Production Modeling ............................................................43 3.2.3.1 FPV Operating Temperature ...........................................44 3.2.3.2 Other Loss Factors ..........................................................45 3.2.3.3 Parameters Used for Energy Yield Simulation ...............46 3.2.4 Water Savings Capability and Efficiency of the System ..................46 3.3 Results ............................................................................................................47 3.3.1 Water Evaporation ............................................................................47 3.3.2 Energy Production ............................................................................48 3.3.2.1 FPV Operating Temperature Model ...............................48 3.3.2.2 Energy Yield and Water Savings of an FPV System Installed on Lake Mead.....................................................................51 3.4 Discussion ......................................................................................................55 3.5 Conclusions ....................................................................................................57 4 Conclusions ...............................................................................................................58 5 Reference List ...........................................................................................................60 iv List of figures Figure 2.1. Sensitivity of avoided O&M fixed cost (V1) in terms of LCOE (¢/kWh) to its parameters in percent change. ................................................................................18 Figure 2.2. Sensitivity of avoided O&M variable cost (V2) in terms of LCOE (¢/kWh) to its parameters in percent change. ...........................................................................19 Figure 2.3. Sensitivity of avoided fuel cost (V3) in terms of LCOE (¢/kWh) to its parameters in percent change. ..................................................................................................20 Figure 2.4. Sensitivity of avoided generation capacity cost (V4) in terms of LCOE (¢/kWh) to its parameters in percent change. .......................................................................21 Figure 2.5. Sensitivity of avoided reserve capacity cost (V5) in terms of LCOE (¢/kWh) to its parameters in percent change. ...........................................................................22 Figure 2.6. Sensitivity of avoided transmission capacity cost (V6) in terms of LCOE (¢/kWh) to its parameters in percent change. ........................................................23