Hydrodynamic Analysis of Offshore Floating Photovoltaic Structure with Elastic Connection

Abstract

Offshore Floating Photovoltaic structure (OFPV) represents a promising solar energy technology characterized by high conversion efficiency and suitability for large-scale deployment. However, the safety and economic synergy problems of floating structures restrict the industrialization and large-scale development of OFPV. We propose a novel OFPV with elastic connection and modularizable HDPE float blocks. The numerical wave tank is established by the turbulence model in FLOE-3D, based on the Navier-Stokes equations. Hydrodynamic analysis of the OFPV is conducted by using the Generalized Mode-Order (GMO) approach. Furthermore, the dynamic responses and mooring loads of the OFPV with elastic and rigid connections are compared. The results show that the average pressure of the photovoltaic support structure with the elastic connection is positively correlated with the wave height. The tension value of the elastic cable is higher at the outermost peak tension. The OFPV with the elastic connection structure has more obvious advantages in extreme wave state conditions than the rigid connection. This study provides theoretical support for the design and engineering application of OFPV.

Keywords

OFPV / Elastic connection / Rigid connection / Hydrodynamic performance analysis

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledged the support of the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2022YFB4200700).

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, Y.Y., X.R. and X.Y.; Methodology, X.Z., Z.D. and J.S.; Software, X.R.; Validation, Y.Y. and Z.D.; Formal Analysis, Y.Y., X.Z. and Z.D.; Writing—Original Draft Preparation, X.Z., X.Y. and Z.D.; Writing—Review & Editing, Y.Y., Z.D. and J.S.; Supervision, Y.Y. and Z.D.; Project Administration, Y.Y. and Z.D.; Funding Acquisition, Y.Y.

Ethics Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on request.

Funding

The research was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant NO 2022YFB4200700), the Tianjin Science and Technology Plan Project (Grant NO:24JCYBJC00870) and the National Science Foundation of Tianjin Science and Technology Plan Project (Grant NO: 23ZYQYGX00140).

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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