Design and model test of a soft-connected lattice-structured floating solar photovoltaic concept for harsh offshore conditions

Various types of floating solar photovoltaic (FPV) devices have been previously proposed, designed and constructed with applications primarily limited to onshore water bodies or nearshore regions with benign environmental conditions. This paper proposes a novel FPV concept which can survive harsh environmental conditions with extreme wave heights above 10 m. This concept uses standardised lightweight semi-submersible floats made of circular materials as individual modules. The floating modules are soft connected with ropes to form an FPV array. We first present the conceptual design of the floats and the connection systems, including hydrostatic, hydrodynamic, and structural assessments of …