Troubled Waters: Exploring the Barriers to Installing Floating Photovoltaic Systems. Insights from Romania

Abstract

The energy sector plays a crucial role in mitigating climate change. Renewable energy production must be scaled up to decrease the CO2 emissions of the energy system. At the same time, electricity consumption is expected to increase considerably in the future. Floating photovoltaic systems are a promising technology that can contribute to producing more renewable energy. However, this technology is still in its infancy, and the number of such systems is small. Looking at the barriers that block the expansion and installation of this technology is crucial because it is increasing the chances of mitigating climate change. However, knowledge of the barriers that hinder the installation of floating photovoltaic systems is lacking. Therefore, this thesis aims to create an empirically validated framework for assessing and mitigating barriers to installing FPVs and providing recommendations for overcoming the barriers. While floating photovoltaics hold significant promise globally, Romania, despite possessing highly promising conditions for FPV development in Europe, currently has a very small number of projects. This disparity leads to the overarching research question of this project: “What barriers impede the installation of FPV systems in Romania and how can they be overcome?”. To answer this question, a literature review and a comparative case study were conducted. The outcome of the literature review is an analytical framework which encompasses the barriers identified in the literature. The framework has six primary categories of barriers: economic, social, technical, geographical, and environmental. The framework is used in the comparative case study to identify the barriers from two relevant cases in Romania. The data concerning the barriers in Romania was collected through semi-structured interviews. Additionally, a survey is distributed to experts. The results of the survey are used to validate the findings of the comparative case study. The result of the research includes a list of barriers that hinder the installation of floating photovoltaic systems in Romania. Also, the framework is empirically validated. Based on these findings, a list of suggestions is conceived to overcome the identified barriers.