Floating Photovoltaic Systems: Expanding Renewable Alternatives to Combat Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Extreme weather events like droughts, floods, heatwaves, and cyclones are increasingly linked to climate change, leading to fatalities, infrastructure damage, and the displacement of thousands. CO2 emissions primarily drive this climate change from burning fossil fuels. South Africa (SA), the highest CO2 emitter in Africa, heavily relies on coal, which accounts for nearly 85% of its emissions. However, SA also has significant but underdeveloped solar energy potential. Expanding solar PV is crucial for SA and other African nations to address energy shortages, reduce GHG emissions, enhance energy security, stimulate economic growth, create jobs, and achieve long-term cost savings. The study includes a computational modelling case study to evaluate PV potential and system performance, comparing onshore and offshore scenarios. It reports a Global Tilted Irradiance (GTI) of 1866 kWh/m² for land-based PV (LPV) and 1797 kWh/m² for FPV, with a Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) of $0.04612/kWh for LPV and $0.05664/kWh for FPV, respectively. The results suggest that the 10-kWp LPV system slightly outperforms the FPV system, though both are within acceptable performance ranges because of harsher offshore conditions. The paper proposes hybrid RE systems including FPV to improve SA's grid stability and efficiency.