Floating Cover Sheet With Walkable Solar Panels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing floating photovoltaic systems in the form of sheet laminates are difficult to service and maintain as they cannot be walked on, making operational maintenance challenging.
Innovation Solution
A floating cover sheet for a liquid reservoir with elongated sheet panels connected at edges, featuring a buoyant plastic carrier sheet and thin-film photovoltaic modules, where the solar module width is less than the sheet panel width to create a slip-resistant walking strip, and is firmly connected to the reservoir walls, incorporating reinforcing elements and suitable plastics for enhanced buoyancy and load-bearing capacity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If photovoltaic cells are attached to a continuous sheet laminate, then energy generation efficiency is improved, but accessibility for maintenance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous sheet laminate is divided into separate floating panels that can be independently accessed. Each panel is a discrete unit with photovoltaic cells attached, allowing maintenance personnel to walk between and on the panels without damaging the entire structure. This segmentation maintains overall energy generation efficiency while providing accessible pathways for maintenance.
2Shape
If the sheet laminate is made fully transparent or translucent, then aesthetic appearance is improved, but structural strength deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The sheet laminate incorporates transparent or translucent sections for aesthetic appearance while integrating opaque reinforcing elements at strategic locations to provide structural strength. The reinforcing elements may be positioned at panel edges, connection points, or load-bearing areas where strength is most needed, while allowing transparent sections to maintain aesthetic quality in visible areas.
3Productivity
If the photovoltaic modules cover the entire sheet panel surface, then energy generation is maximized, but walkability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The sheet panels feature photovoltaic modules that cover most of the surface area to maximize energy generation, while leaving specific localized areas uncovered to create walkable paths. These uncovered strips or zones are strategically positioned to allow maintenance personnel to walk on the panels without stepping on photovoltaic cells, thus maintaining both energy generation efficiency and walkability.
4Weight of moving object
If the carrier sheet is made from lightweight plastic material, then buoyancy is improved, but load-bearing capacity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The carrier sheet is constructed as a composite structure combining lightweight plastic material for buoyancy with integrated reinforcing elements made of stronger materials. These reinforcing elements may include ribs, beams, or embedded structural components that distribute loads across the plastic substrate, enabling the carrier sheet to support maintenance personnel and equipment while maintaining its buoyant properties.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables easy servicing and maintenance by allowing safe walking on the cover sheet while maintaining efficient energy generation, with improved buoyancy, slip resistance, and protection of sensitive photovoltaic cells from damage.
Implementation Method 1
a solar module, preferably a thin-film photovoltaic material
Implementation Method 2
each of the elongated sheet panels having a buoyant carrier sheet disposed in the lower region thereof; the buoyant carrier sheet being made of plastic
Data Source
AI summary
A floating cover sheet of a liquid reservoir is configured to rest on the liquid surface and includes a plurality of elongated sheet panels each defining edges and a lower region. The sheet panels are connected to one another and each of the sheet panels has a buoyant carrier sheet disposed in the lower region thereof. The buoyant carrier sheet is made of plastic and defines a carrier surface. A plurality of panel-shaped solar modules are applied to corresponding ones of the carrier surfaces of the carrier sheets. The solar module has a width less than the width of the corresponding sheet panel so as to define, on each sheet panel, a strip of carrier material free of the solar module corresponding thereto and configured to be walked on and to be slip resistant.