Floating solar energy

Courtesy : www.tandfonline.com/

In this article, the realm of floating solar plants, an advanced approach in the renewable energy domain has been presented. It deals with the optimal location of an efficient floating solar plant in the Indian subcontinent and is one of the first such works to be conducted in the South-Asian region. The presented analysis gives an integrated Fuzzy-based proposal, the prototype of which considers environmental, especially climatic conditions like a variation in irradiation, clearness, temperature, and humidity of the regions within examination to give a hierarchy of their suitability toward the construction of a floating solar plant. A Fuzzy- Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) based approach is used to formulate the evaluation process. The study is conducted by taking a case in the subcontinent of India, taking into consideration the five largest dams within the country that are further subjected to an analysis pivoting around 12 local factors. The results have been robustly validated by implementing additional Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methods. Based on the obtained results, the authors have also created a proforma of suggestions for the decision-makers worldwide, especially in the energy domain, thus giving this work significance both in theoretical and practical aspects. The work adjudges the five largest reservoirs in India based on 12 criteria using a Fuzzy-TOPSIS approach to find their suitability toward the construction of a floating solar plant. After the study, the Bhakhra Nangal Dam Reservoir emerged to be the most suitable water body for the construction of a floating solar plant in India. The findings can thus be used as a foundation to revolutionize the green energy sector.