Comparative Analysis of the Impact of Various Depths of Different Water Bodies on Standalone Bifacial Solar Photovoltaic Panels: An Experimental Approach

This study investigates the effectiveness of using water as a coolant for floating bifacial photovoltaic cells (PV). At higher irradiance levels (700 W/m² to 1000 W/m²), PSF4 and PSF6 consistently outperform CWS, with PSF6 showing the highest power increase of 17.6%. In saltwater, surfaces (PSS2, PSS4, and PSS6) demonstrate increased power outputs, with PSS6 consistently leading 0.3% to 15 %. Black water surfaces (PSB2, PSB4, and PSB6) also exhibit improved power generation, with PSB4 showing the highest percentage increase 0.2 % to 9.2%. Freshwater cooling proves most effective, with average efficiencies of 1.41%, 3.26%, and 4.1% at depths of 2 cm, 4 cm, and 6 cm respectively. Across surfaces, PSF6 exhibits the highest power percentage at 17.6%, followed by PSF4 (15.0%) and PSF2 (5.5%). Notably, PSS6 also demonstrates strong performance at 15.9%. PSF6 demonstrated the highest energy production at 1.1754 MWh/year, indicating superior performance. Saltwater and black water offer lower efficiency than freshwater coolants, which is attributed to their properties, yet they still improve upon CWS efficiency. The study highlights the benefits of proposed surfaces, especially PSF4 and PSF6, suggesting water as an effective coolant for floating bifacial PV panels. This has implications for renewable energy, water conservation, cost-effectiveness, and market growth.