Letter Of Transmittal

June 3rd 2021

Reza Rizvi
Assistant Professor
Lassonde School of Engineering
York University
4700 Keele St.
Toronto,Ontario M3J 1P3

Dear Dr. Rizvi,

This report was written to fulfill Term Project 1 of the Effective Engineering Communication
course. This report, Term Project 1, was meant to be completed by June 3rd 2021.

Term Project 1 is set to highlight an emerging technology that addresses one out of
seventeen United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG). This report will solely
focus on How Floating Solar Arrays Can Be Utilized to Tackle UN SDG Goal Seven (Ensure
Access to Affordable, Reliable, Sustainable and Modern Energy For All).

Sincerely,

Navraj Sandhu
 How Floating Solar Arrays Can Be
Utilized to Tackle UN SDG Goal Seven

Prepared For:
Dr. Reza Rizvi
Assistant Professor, Lassonde School of Engineering
York University
4700 Keele St. Toronto,Ontario M3J 1P3

Prepared By:
Navraj Sandhu
Undergraduate Student, Lassonde School of Engineering
York University

June 15, 2021

i
 Executive Summary
Despite the ever growing advancements in the technological sector, many people in
developing countries lack access to electricity. This is highlighted by UN SDG goal seven for
2030 which reads ``Ensure Access to Affordable, Reliable, Sustainable and Modern Energy
For All” [3]. When looking at the facts we can clearly see that direct action is needed to
alter the ongoing situation. One billion people lack access to electricity [1]. In 2017, only
17% of our energy consumption was derived from renewable sources and roughly 25% of
healthcare facilities lack access to electricity in developing nations [3]. It is quite evident
that the energy sector should prioritize getting affordable and reliable energy to these
nations to improve quality of life.

The location of developing nations and their proximity to the equator [4] can be
used to our advantage to comprise a solution to this situation. Countries located at the
equator get roughly 12 hours of sunlight year round; this makes solar power the primary
candidate in this case. Due to high population density, and in turn the competition for land,
[5] standard solar arrays do not fit the bill. Floating Photovoltaic (FPV) cells are solar
arrays that are situated on buoyant structures. They are usually installed on top of bodies of
water that are stagnant, such as lakes and swamps [5]. This alternative to standard in land
solar panels frees up valuable land. It also minimizes the shadows that are casted on top of
the solar arrays, allowing for longer sun exposure thus more energy [6].

FPVs are usually installed in large scale operations for municipalities, large
corporations, governments etc. [5]. The largest operation to date is in Anhui, China
producing 40 megawatts of power [5]. Multiple municipalities have also adopted the use of
FPVs such as Vaucluse, France [6]. We have seen the benefits FPVs have and how useful they
can truly be, as well as real world cases where the technology is currently being utilized as
an energy source. FPVs may push us one step closer to meeting our targets for 2030 set by
the UN and truly getting affordable and reliable energy for all.

ii
 Table of Contents

Executive Summary…………………………………………...………………………………... i

Title Page…………..……………………………………….……………………………..……..ii

Table of Contents……………………………………………………….……………………..iii

I. Introduction……………………………………………………..……………..………..1
I.A Background……………………………………………………………….…………..…………1
I.B Statistics of the Energy Crisis in Developing Nations………....…....………….………….1
I.C Possible Solutions………….………………....……………………………....….…….………..1

II. Main Topics…………………...……………….………..……………………….…………2-3

II. A What are Floatovoltaic Cells……………………………………………………......…….…2
II. B Floating Solar Arrays vs Regular Solar Arrays……………………………....….….…….2
II.C Floatovoltaic Cells as an Energy Source for Developing Countries………..….…....…..2
II.D Real World Examples of the Uses of Floating Solar Arrays…………….…….………..3

III. Discussion …………………………………………………………….……………….….4-6

IV.
Conclusion…………...…………………………………………....………………………..…….7

References………………………………………………………………………….....…….…8-9

List of Figures:

Figure II.C.1 Peak Loading vs Base Loading ........................................................................................................2

Figure III.A.1 World

Map………………………………………………………….….………………………………………..4

iii
 I. Introduction

A. Background
We live in an age where we are surrounded by technologies and have grown
accustomed to the ever growing presence of said technologies. Electricity has played
a pivotal role in our advancement into the technological age. Despite this, roughly a
billion people alive today lack access to electricity[1]. Getting affordable and reliable
energy to these nations is of the utmost importance in terms of innovation in the
energy sector. Efforts are currently being made to better the circumstances but we
are falling short of the goals we have set for 2030 [2]. Through emerging
technologies we may be able to electrify impoverished countries and increase the
quality of life for the world as a whole.

B. Statistics of the Energy Crisis in Developing Nations

As mentioned above, although efforts are currently being made to improve
the circumstances developing nations face, we are falling short of the UN SDG goals
for 2030 [2]. As of 2017 only 17% of the world's energy consumption was derived
from renewable sources [3]. In 2018, 1 in 4 healthcare facilities in developing
countries were not electrified. We have also fallen short of the energy efficiency
improvement rate by 3%, only reaching 1.7% as of 2017 [3]. Looking at the statistics
we can clearly see that this is not only a matter of efficiency, but rather the
implementation of any affordable and reliable energy sources to get power to
developing nations to help them thrive in the future.

C. Possible Solution
We have to consider what a possible solution may look like to resolve this
issue rather than to bandage it. Of utmost importance, the solution must be
affordable and reliable. This is especially important because getting affordable
energy sources to developing countries will prompt the governments of the nations
to be more willing to instill the energy source. The energy source must also be green.
This is where the real challenge lies, if we were to use a non-green and eco-friendly
energy source we would be substituting one problem for another. Since most
developing nations are located near the equator [4] and there is consistent sunlight
throughout the year the only feasible option are solar arrays.

1
 II. Main Topics
(The Implementation of Floatovoltaic Cells as a Solution to Goal Seven)

A. What Are Floatovoltaic Cells

A floatovoltaic cell also known as a floating photovoltaic (FPV) is any
photovoltaic cell situated on top of a buoyant structure that keeps the cell a float.
The first iteration of a FPV was patented in 2006 [5]. Since then many iterations
have followed, many of them ensuring that the surface of the solar array is
constantly normal to the sun to ensure maximum energy density.

B. Floating Solar Arrays V.s. Regular Solar Arrays

The benefit of having Floating Solar Arrays opposed to regular solar panels is
that land is not wasted. This is a major factor when talking about developing
countries due to high population densities and competition for land for uses such as;
agriculture, living space and general use [5]. Wild life is not affected as well since the
solar arrays are situated on a buoyant structure which ensures marine life can
continue to thrive. Most importantly there are no blockages that can create shadows
on floating solar arrays. When dealing with solar arrays on land there is an issue of
shadows being casted on top of the solar cell by buildings, trees etc. But with floating
solar arrays, in large enough lakes it negates the chance of shadows to be casted a
top the FPVs hence optimizing the input power because of the longer duration of sun
exposure [6].

C. Floatovoltaic Cells as an Energy Source for Developing Countries

The need for affordable and reliable energy sources is crucial for the
development of a nation. FPVs can be utilized as an alternative to traditional energy
sources. They can boost the energy yield since they operate using peak loading
mode compared to the base loading mode which most energy sources use [6]. For
countries that employ hydropower, FPVs can prove to be especially useful since they
can help manage times of low water availability. This makes them the perfect
candidate for developing nations such as those in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern
Asia [6]. Another benefit for the installation of FPVs is the modularity of the system.
A region that is using FPVs can install as many as needed without affecting the
function and performance of the system [6].

2
 Figure II.C.1 Peak Loading vs Base Loading [1]

D. Real World Examples of the Uses of Floating Solar Arrays

Floating solar arrays are best suited to large scale operations such as large
companies, communities, and government. The largest FPV installation in the world
is the Sungrow Power Supply located in Anhui, China producing 40 megawatts of
power [5]. Additionally, there is currently a project under construction in Vaucluse,
France that consists of a partnership with Akuo Energy and the local municipality,
that has a 17 MWp O’MEGA 1 FPV system [5]. Governments and companies are
opting for FPVs as an alternate energy source because of a lack of greenhouse
emissions, higher energy efficiency, and utilization of existing electricity
transmission infrastructure at hydropower sites [6].

3
 III. Discussion

In the Main Topics section we have discussed the main concepts behind FPVs (what
they are, how they compare to regular solar arrays and real world implementations of
FPVS) now we are going to look how useful they truly can be on a large scale. To get an idea
of how useful floating photovoltaic cells (FPV) can be to resolve UN SDG goal seven we will
look at a purely hypothetical scenario. Suppose it is decided that in all developing nations
10% of the lakes were to be covered by FPVs. How many people can we get power to in that
area?

A. Area of the Region?

Developing nations roughly are located

between 30 degrees north and 15 degrees
south. And between 135 degrees east and 135
degrees west. Using a bit of calculus we can
determine the surface area of this region.
Assuming the Earth is a perfect sphere

Figure III.A.1 World Map [2] Longitude

135 East= 180-135=45
135 West=180+135=315

π π π 7π
Thus the bounds become: 6
≤ θ ≤ 3
, 4
≤ Φ≤ 4
2 6
𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 = ∫∫ 𝑅 𝑠𝑖𝑛θ𝑑Φ𝑑θ, where R is the radius of the earth 𝑅 = 6. 371 * 10 𝑚
π 7π
3 4
2 π π π 7π
= ∫ ∫ 𝑅 𝑠𝑖𝑛θ𝑑Φ𝑑θ , Apply bounds
6
≤ θ ≤ 3
, 4
≤ Φ≤ 4
π π
6 4
π 7π
3 4
2
= 𝑅 ∫ 𝑠𝑖𝑛θ𝑑θ ∫ 𝑑Φ
π π
6 4

π 7π
2 3 4
= 𝑅 [− 𝑐𝑜𝑠θ] π [Φ] π 4
6 4
 6 2 π π 7π π
= (6. 371 * 10 ) [𝑐𝑜𝑠( 6 ) − 𝑐𝑜𝑠( 3 )][ 4
− 4
]
13 2
= 7. 00 * 10 𝑚

B. How much area do lakes cover worldwide ?

It is estimated that lakes comprise 0.013% of the earth’s volume of water[7]. Let’s
assume this translates to their surface area too, such that lakes cover 0.013% of the
total surface area that water covers are lakes. It is well known that 71% of the
earth’s surface area is covered in water.
So:
𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝐶𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝐿𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠 = 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑜𝑓𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑛 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ × 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑂𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒
= 0. 71 × 0. 00013
−3
= 9. 23 × 10 %

C. How much of the surface area is covered by lakes in that region?

Assuming the percentage we calculated holds true in this region then,
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠 = 𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑅𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛 * 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠
13 −5
= (7. 00 * 10 ) * (9. 23 * 10 )
9 2
= 6. 524 * 10 𝑚

D. Region covered by FPVs

As stated before 10% of the lakes are going to be covered by FPVs
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝐹𝑃𝑉𝑠 = 𝑆𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑠 * 10%
9
= (6. 524 * 10 ) * 0. 1
8 2
= 6. 524 * 10 𝑚

E. Apply energy density of the sun on earth

Numerous articles state on a clear day the energy density of the sun is
1000w/m^2 when the sun is normal to the surface [8]
𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 = 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝐹𝑃𝑉'𝑠 * 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦
8 2 𝑊
= (6. 524 * 10 )𝑚 * (1000) 2
𝑚
11
= 6. 524 * 10 𝑊

F. Apply efficiency of an average Solar Cell

Some of the latest solar cell’s have an average efficiency of 52% [9]
𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 = 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 * 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦
11
= (6. 524 * 10 𝑊) * 0. 52
11
= 1. 696 * 10 𝑊

5
 G. How many people can power be delivered to?
The average person has a power consumption of 58kWh per day [10] so 21184 kwh
per year. Since at the equator year around there is 12 hours of sunlight we use 12 hours per
day to get a more accurate prediction.
11 11 𝐽𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠 3600 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠 12 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 365.25 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 18 𝐽𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠
𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 = 1. 696 * 10 𝑊 = 1. 696 * 10 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑
* ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟
* 𝐷𝑎𝑦
* 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
= 2. 676 * 10 𝑌𝑒𝑎𝑟
Joules to kWh
18 𝐽𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠
2.676*10 𝑌𝑒𝑎𝑟 11 𝑘𝑊ℎ
𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 (𝑘𝑊ℎ) = 6 𝐽𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠 = 7. 433 * 10 𝑌𝑒𝑎𝑟
3.6*10 𝑘𝑊ℎ

The amount of people

11 𝑘𝑊ℎ
𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 7.433*10 𝑌𝑒𝑎𝑟
# 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 = 𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
= 𝑘𝑊ℎ = 35087802 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒
21184 𝑌𝑒𝑎𝑟*𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛

Although this example is quite extreme and a lot of assumptions were made, it shows us the
capabilities of FPVs and how they can be used to reach the UNs 2030 targets.

6
 Conclusion
The leaps and bounds we have made in the technological sector in the past century
have been unprecedented. The things we once thought to be impossible have come into
fruition. Yet roughly a billion people all over the world still live without access to clean and
affordable energy [1].

In hopes to combat this issue the United Nations has set goals it attempts to
accomplish by the year of 2030. The one we are particularly interested in is goal 7 “Ensure
Access to electrify the world by 2030 [3]. As of yet we are falling behind all benchmarks we
have set for ourselves. Such as improved energy efficiency. The push for a larger percentage
of energy consumption to be sourced from renewable sources. Most importantly the
increase of electrification in developing nations [3].

Floating photovoltaic (FPVs) cells are floating solar arrays that are placed upon
buoyant structures; the idea was first patented in 2006 [5]. They are commonly used for
large scale purposes such as providing power for municipalities, large corporations and
governments[6]. Since FPVs are installed on large bodies of water [5] it limits the amount of
obstruction that can cause shadows on the surface of the FPV. This results in longer sun
exposure relative to their inland counterparts. FPVs are especially useful to nations that use
hydropower. By installing FPVs alongside hydro plants peak loading is utilized compared to
base loading [6] which results in more usable energy. During periods of droughts FPVs can
be used to meet energy requirements and the opposite is true for heavy downpour where
hydropower can be used [6]. In developing countries, where land is extremely valuable due
to high population density, inland solar panels are a liability which increase scarcity of land
[6] which is why opting for the alternative is a more preferable solution. FPVs are a
noteworthy candidate to aid with the electrification of developing nations which also
provide affordable and reliable energy to the rest of the world.

7
 References
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8
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