• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.26 no.6_1
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• pp.1001-1010
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• 2023

To solve the problem that photovoltaic panels can not harvest electrical energy at a cloudy day and night, a floating solar thermoelectric generator (FSTEG, hereafter) is studied. The FSTEG is consisted of a dome shaped Fresnel lens to condense solar energy, a thermoelectric module connected with a heat sink to keep temperature difference, a floating system simulating a wavy ocean and an electrical circuit for energy storage. The dome shaped Fresnel lens was designed to have 29 prisms and its optical performance was evaluated outdoors under natural sunlight. Four thermoelectric modules were electrically connected and its performance was evaluated. The generated energy w as stored in a Li-ion battery by using a DC-DC step-up converter. For the application of ocean environment, the FSTEG was covered by the dome shaped Fresnel lens and sealed to float in a water-filled reservoir. The harvested energy shows a potential and a method that the FSTEG is suitable for the energy generation in the ocean environment.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.10
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• pp.229-235
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• 2019

A floating photovoltaic generation system is a new concept that combines existing photovoltaic generation technology with floating technology. This is installed in the water not on conventional land and a building. The system is designed as a unit module type that can be connected to other modules according to the power generation capacity, thereby forming a large-scale power generation facility. As a renewable energy source, it is composed of a floating structure, mooring device, photovoltaic power generation facility, and underwater cable. Because this system is installed outdoors, the effect of the wind load on the structure is very large. In this study, the wind loads most affected on the floating photovoltaic generation structure were obtained by computational fluid dynamic analysis. The flow characteristics and wind loads were analyzed for a range of wind orientations and angles of inclination. The analysis showed the position and magnitude of the maximum wind load to the wind direction and the flow characteristics around the solar panel and floating system. The wind load increased with increasing angle of inclination of the panel to the ground.