Heliyon 9 (2023) e16785

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Heliyon
journal homepage: www.cell.com/heliyon

Techno-economic assessment of power generation potential from

floating solar photovoltaic systems in Bangladesh
Md Fatin Ishraq Faruqui a, Atik Jawad a, b, Nahid-Al- Masood a, *
a
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1205, Bangladesh
b
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Floating Solar Photovoltaic (FPV) plants, also known as floatovoltaic plants are showing great
Floating PV potential in the renewable energy sector all around the world. They can contribute to the national
Solar power potential grid and provide support to the existing hydropower plants. Moreover, they positively impact the
Inland water infrastructures
environment by reducing evaporation and improving aquatic lives simultaneously. Despite a
Bangladesh
NPV
decade of research, there has been no study on the technical potential of FPV plants on a riverine
IRR country like Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, there are several water infrastructures to accommodate
FPV plants. In addition, a considerable amount of solar irradiation is available throughout the
year because of the country’s geographical location, making FPVs a significantly viable option for
generating electricity. To this end, this study provides the first technical potential and economic
feasibility assessment of some of the important water bodies of Bangladesh. The technical po­
tential study is performed with the help of solar PVGIS and focuses on the contribution these
plants can make to the national grid. The economic viability assessment simulations are done in
System Advisory Model (SAM). Moreover, a thorough comparison between FPVs and inland solar
plants is also conducted. The results show that after the installation, even with a conservative
approach, FPV plants will be able to meet 1.1% of the demand of the capital Dhaka, the city with
one of the highest population densities. In addition, FPV installation at Kaptai lake, which already
has an existing hydropower plant, can meet up to 7% of the demand of the port city Chattogram.
Moreover, economic parameters NPV, IRR and LCOE all indicate the projects are profitable and
can be deployed in large-scale. This study will open doors to further research into the FPV po­
tential of Bangladesh and help implement FPVs to meet the renewable energy goals of the
country.

1. Introduction

Solar photovoltaic technology has been one of the main interests of the researchers in the renewable energy domain for the last
couple of decades. Renewable energy is the solution to obtain a sustainable development [1]. The renewable energy sources are the
way to emancipate the world from depletion of ozone layer and other environmental problems associated with it. Among the sources,
solar plants are among the best in case of output generation especially in Asia region along with hydro power and geothermal energy

* Corresponding author. Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET),
Dhaka 1205, Bangladesh.
E-mail addresses: fatinishraq843@gmail.com (M.F.I. Faruqui), atikjawad001@gmail.com (A. Jawad), nahid@eee.buet.ac.bd (N.-A. Masood).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16785
Received 22 January 2023; Received in revised form 5 May 2023; Accepted 26 May 2023
Available online 29 May 2023
2405-8440/© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
M.F.I. Faruqui et al. Heliyon 9 (2023) e16785

Nomenclature

Аlake Lake coverage (m2)

Аpanel,c Solar panel coverage area (m2)
δ Tilt angle (degree)
Аpanel Solar panel area (m2)
Wp Installed peak power (kWp)
GHIp Peak global horizontal irradiation (kWp/m2)
η Efficiency at Standard Test Conditions (STC) (%)
C Capacity factor (%)
Ep Generated energy during analysing time period (kWh)
T Time period (h)
κ AC-DC ratio
Winv Inverter rating (W)
Wmodule Module rating (W)
NT Total number of required modules
Vmax Inverter maximum operating voltage (V)
Vmin Inverter minimum operating voltage (V)
Voc Module open circuit voltage (V)
Ns,max Maximum modules per string
Ns,min Minimum modules per string
Fn Net cash flow in year n
d Annual discount rate (%)
N Time period
NPV Net Present Value ($)
IRR Internal rate of return (%)
LCOE Levelized Cost of Energy
Qn Electricity supplied by the system to the grid in year n (kWh)
Cn Annual project cost ($)

[2]. Though overland solar photovoltaic (PV) plants have their own merits, floating photovoltaic (FPV) plants have clear advantages
since it can increase energy efficiency, increase output generation due to lower operating temperature, improve health of aquatic
animals, control algae and other harmful plants growth, and reduce water loss due to evaporation [3].

1.1. Literature review

A detailed study by Spencer et al. assessed the technical potential of FPV plants in United States [4]. In the study, 27% of the
suitable water bodies were taken in consideration which could produce 10% of the total generation of the United States. This was the
first national level analysis for a whole country and paved the way for other researchers to emulate the same for their respective
countries. Choi et al. analyzed the already installed FPV plants and evaluated their efficiency [5]. Moreover, effect of wind speed and
waves on FPV plants were taken into consideration. It showed that the FPV plants are 11% more efficient than their inland coun­
terparts. But the economic analysis was left out of this study which could not demonstrate the profitability. Research by Farfan et al.
introduced the concept of combining FPV plants with hydro power plants [6]. The study showed the 6.3% more water availability and
additional 142.5 TWh generation of electricity. But the study did not take economic analysis into consideration. Moreover, the social
and legal barriers were also not part of this research. Clemons et al. evaluated the generation potential and economic profitability as a
case study of Thailand [7]. But it left out the water rights or legal obligations which the concerned authority would face. The social and
legal obstacles faced while installing the FPV plants are rare and can be a scope for future research. Mittal et al. in a case study, showed
Kota barrage could produce 18,38,519 kWh energy per year and Kishore Sagar Lake could produce 18,58,959 kWh per year [8].
Additionally, 37 million litres of water could be saved from this project. However, this was a case study which was limited to two water
bodies in Rajasthan, India. Dorenkamper et al. evaluated a rather untouched aspect of the study which is the cooling effect of the FPV
panels [9]. The research was conducted in two separate climate conditions and both cases showed better energy yield with respect to
overland PV plants. But the economic feasibility was out of consideration for this research as well. Kichou et al. did simulation-based
research which demonstrated the FPV plants to be 3% better in terms of performance [10]. The study also included the economic
profitability as well. All the mentioned studies demonstrated a distinct performance improvement in case of FPV plants over the inland
ones. Tina et al. analyzed the performance of tracking panels for FPV plants and showed 3% better gain for Anapo dam in Sicily and 4%
for Aar in Germany [11]. The focus of this study was limited to the addition of tracking panels, economic aspect of the proposed plants
was out of context for this study. Rahman et al. evaluated the potential of solar lanes besides Kaptai Lake in Bangladesh [12]. The study
showed the technical potential of the proposed plants but did not mention the feasibility of this study. Moreover, the study did not take
any other water bodies into consideration. Considering all the conducted literature review, a concise summary regarding floatovoaltaic

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studies is given in Table 1 for convenience.

At present, there are 4 large scale solar power plants existing in Bangladesh: Teknaf Solar Park (28 MW), Sutiakhali (50 MW),
Sunamganj Solar Park (32 MW) and Mymensingh Solar Park (40 MW) [13]. On the other hand, there is only one floating solar PV plant
in the country. This plant in Mongla only has a capacity of 10 KW [14]. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) published three (3)
feasibility reports on Barapukuria lakes, Bukbhara Baor and Joydia Baor in this regard [15]. The government aims to generate 40% of
the electricity through renewables by 2041 [14]. Therefore, to meet the target of generation through renewables, large scale instal­
lation of solar FPV plants in Bangladesh is inevitable and requires much attention.

1.2. Research gaps and specific contribution

The research of FPV plants installation and their generation capacity have been conducted all over the world for quite some time
now. But this is a comparatively new prospect in South-East Asia and the conducted research are still in preliminary stage with very few
practical implementations. Considering all the discussed literature in the previous subsection, the crucial research gaps can be
identified as follows:

• FPV studies are in progression in Bangladesh and few research have been conducted in this aspect, but those did not investigate how
FPVs can assist the national grid. Furthermore, the reports do not represent the entire scenario of Bangladesh’s FPV potential.
• Some researchers have highlighted on the possibilities of Kaptai Lake as a location for an FPV plant in Bangladesh. However, there
are other major water bodies that can be utilized for FPV installation. To deploy FPV plants, a thorough performance evaluation and
feasibility study are required in such locations.
• One of the most important factors to consider when adopting a new plant technology is the expenditure. Existing FPV-related
research in Bangladesh does not address the economic viability of the proposed FPV plants.
• To move from inland solar plants to FPV plants or to install alongside the inland ones, a thorough comparative analysis is needed.
However, none of the available works offer a comparative study from the viewpoint of Bangladeshi water bodies.

Taking all the research gaps into account, the purpose of this study is to unlock the generation potential and economic feasibility of
FPV plants installed in Bangladesh based on some selected water bodies. In addition, the study provides a thorough comparative
analysis of the inland PV plants and the proposed FPV plants based on technical, economic, and environmental aspects. The paper’s

Table 1
Literature review.
Sr. Author Study Major Findings Research Gaps
No.

1 Spencer et al. Technical potential in the 27% of the number and 10% of the total area of The study is approximation based and depends on
[4] continental USA. the water bodies could provide 10% of the the specific dataset on which the analysis is
national generation in USA. performed. Moreover, the study does not discuss
the comparison of the FPV plants with their land-
based counterparts.
2 Choi [5] FPV power generation FPV installations are 11% better than their inland Economic analysis not provided. No discussions
analysis considering counterparts. Effect of environment on done regarding the profitability of the project.
environmental impact. generation efficiency is also discussed.
3 Farfan et al. [6] Combining hydro power Combining FPV and HPP increases water The study demonstrates only the HPP-FPV
plants (HPP) with FPV availability by 6.3% and adds approximately combination aspect, and economic and socio-
plants. 142.5 TWh generation to HPP generation. environmental barriers are not discussed.
4 Clemons et al. Feasibility study of FPV Thorough economic analysis is done on 21 water However, this study also could not demonstrate
[7] plants in Thailand. reservoirs of Thailand and shown that levelized the social and legal barriers that FPVs face. Social
cost of energy and payback period is lesser than impacts of FPV and perception of the general
the overland ones. people is rare throughout the world.
5 Mittal et al. [8] Feasibility of FPV plants in The studies show that the FPV installed can save This was a case study which took only four lakes
Rajasthan in India up to 37 million of water and reduce CO2 of Rajasthan into account and left the other lakes
emission by 1714 tonnes per year. out of consideration.
6 Dorenkamper Cooling effect of FPVs in The study shows 3% better energy yield in The economic parameters and the barriers faced
et al. [9] two different climates. Netherlands and 6% better in Singapore with due to the installation of these FPV plants were
respect to the overland ones. out of consideration in this study.
7 Kichou et al. Simulation based analysis The study shows 3% better performance than the The contribution of the FPVs to the respective
[10] of FPV plants in Czechia. terrestrial ones. It also introduced the tracking national grid was out of consideration of this
panels in the FPV plants which yields 20% more study.
energy.
8 Tina et al. [11] Energy performance It shows gains over 3% in Sicily and 4% in Economic analysis and contribution to the grid
evaluation of tracking FPV. Germany. This study also shows the gain are out of scope of these studies.
achieved due to the cooling of the modules.
9 Rahman et al. Solar lanes and technical The study shows that 13% of the total electricity The economic feasibility is out of scope for this
[12] assessment of Kaptai lake generation can be generated through solar lanes research. Moreover, among the water bodies,
in Bangladesh. and a portion of Kaptai lake. only Kaptai lake is analyzed, which does not
represent the scenario of the whole country.

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M.F.I. Faruqui et al. Heliyon 9 (2023) e16785

main contribution is outlined in the paragraphs that follow.

• The research done earlier lacked a comprehensive analysis of the potential of FPV plants. Moreover, an economic analysis is always
necessary to assess the practical implementation. Therefore, a systematic methodology is proposed to comprehensively assess the
generation potential and economic feasibility of deploying FPV plants in the water reservoirs. The proposed method is generalized
and can be applied to any potential FPV plant evaluation.
• The approach for FPV plant assessment is utilized on seven artificial lakes across different regions of Bangladesh. Each plant’s
viability is extensively assessed in terms of power generation, economic impact, and contribution to the national grid.
• A comparative analysis of inland PV plants and proposed FPV plants is provided based on generation ability, economic viability,
cost variables, and environmental considerations.

The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. Section 2 describes the methodology and the approaches taken to evaluate the
potential and viability of the FPV plants. Moreover, a flowchart of the study is also present in this section for convenience. The third
section deals with the results associated with this study and analyze various aspects of the results such as the generation potential of the
plants and economic viability. The next section demonstrates a comparison between the inland PV plants with the proposed solar FPV
plants. In Section 5, a brief discussion on the limitations of the work is given. Finally, in the last section, we provide a succinct summary
of our findings and insights.

2. Methodology

This section presents a methodology to determine the generation potential and economic feasibility of the selected waterbodies.
Moreover, designing of plant components are also provided in this section along with the selection of appropriate solar panels to be
installed. The workflow of this study is shown in Fig. 1.
In the following subsections, every step of the methodology is described in detail.

Fig. 1. Flowchart of the proposed study.

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2.1. Selection of water bodies

The primary requirement for the installation of FPVs is to identify suitable water bodies. In this study, seven lakes were selected
from different regions: three from the capital Dhaka, one from the port city Chattogram and other three from different regions of the
country. All the lakes were artificial, as it should be for FPV installation. This is because the man-made water reservoirs are generally
stagnant and detached from the river or the ocean which makes them perfect for FPV installation [16]. Note that, the water bodies
selected for the study do not include all the man-made water bodies in Bangladesh. But as this is a case study, the water bodies
representing the whole country with high potential are selected. The three lakes of Dhaka (Dhanmondi Lake, Gulshan Lake and
Hatirjheel lake) were chosen as these are the only man-made water bodies in the capital. Three of them (Joydia Baor, Bukhbhara Haor,
Barapukuria lake) have been recommended by Asian Development Bank (ADB) and so those were also included in this study [15].
Kaptai lake is chosen because it has a Hydro power plant attached. Table 2 summarizes the reasons for selecting the specific water
bodies along with their location. Location of the lakes along with their specific latitudes and longitudes throughout the country is
shown in appendix for convenience. The appendix also includes the location of the lakes throughout the whole country and in their
specific districts in separate figures.

2.2. PV panel characteristics

To determine the power generation by the installed floating solar panels, the following PV panel specifications are the standard
ones which are used in PV panel studies [17]. The specifications for this study are shown in Table 3.

2.3. Calculation of generated power

After selecting the aforementioned water bodies, suitable area of installing FPVs were carefully identified. The whole area of the
lakes should not be used for couple of reasons. Lakes can be a source of amusement, have active route of water transportation, or be
home to hydroelectric power plants, as in the case of Kaptai lake at Chattogram. In some cases, the livelihood of the people around the
basin depends on the lakes such as the fishermen. Therefore, a conservative approach was taken by installing virtual solar panel on
Google Earth Pro and then the area was calculated in percentage of the whole area of the lakes [18].
Next, to assess the solar power potential at the intended locations, solar irradiation profile was obtained from global solar irra­
diation database, PVGIS-SARAH, which has the broadest coverage of irradiation data [19]. In order to determine peak power of the
solar panels, the total area and efficiency of the solar panels are required. Solar panel coverage area includes the floating system, the
mooring system, floated, buoyancy anchor, underwater cable, etc. It can be determined using Eq. (1).
Аpanel,c = 61% × Аpanel (1)

Where, Аpanel is the lake coverage (m2), and Аpanel,c is the solar panel coverage area (m2).
Afterwards, the area of the solar panels area can be found from Eq. (2) [20].
Аpanel,c
Аpanel = (2)
cos (δ)

Where, δ is the tilt angle in degrees. Generally, the tilt angle of solar panels depends on the part of the world where it is located. For
Bangladesh, the tilt angle for floating solar panels is considered to be 11◦ in case of horizontal plane [4]. The efficiency of a solar panel
using polycrystalline cells was considered to be 17% [21]. Usually, the polycrystalline material is used mostly in the world for solar

Table 2
Selection of water bodies.
Lake District Selection remarks

Dhanmondi Lake Dhaka This lake is one of the few man-made reservoirs in the capital. The lake harbors residential as well
as commercial infrastructures. Though a small portion of the lake is used for entertainment
purpose such as boat riding, most of the area of this water body is unused which makes it a
suitable choice of FPV plant installation.
Hatirjheel Lake Dhaka Hatirjheel lake also has boat riding facilities for entertainment but then again most of it remains
unused even today. The lake is surrounded by important commercial buildings. The proposed FPV
plants can meet the demand of these infrastructures and some of the adjacent area.
Gulshan Lake Dhaka Gulshan lake is situated in a very busy location where the shopping malls are located. The lake is
stagnant and is unused for many years. These make the lake suitable for FPV implementation.
Joydia Baor, Bukhbhara Haor and Dinajpur, Jessore, and These three lakes were recommended by Asian Development bank (ADB) [15]. The water bodies
Barapukuria lake Jhenaidah are stagnant and unused for a long time which makes these suitable for FPV installation.
Moreover, these lakes harbour conventional generation grid, which makes them suitable for the
proposed study.
Kaptai Lake Chattogram Kaptai lake is one of the largest lakes in Bangladesh. A portion of it is used for Hydro power plant,
but the rest of it is mostly unused. HPP attachment helps the cause of FPV installation which is
already done in many countries. These reasons make this lake suitable for the proposed study.

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Table 3
PV panel specifications.
Site info

PV technology Crystalline Silicon

Mounting Fixed
Mounting options Free-standing
Tilt 11◦
Azimuth 0

System loss

Soiling 2%
Shading 3%
Snow 0%
Mismatch 2%
Wiring 2%
Connections 1%
Light-Induced Degradation 2%
Nameplate Rating 1%
Age 0%
Availability 3%
Total 14%

Panel dimensions

Length 1956 mm
Width 992 mm
Height 40 mm

panels because it is the cheapest, and environmentally friendly. Therefore, installed peak power can be calculated from Eq. (3) [20].
Wp = GHIp × Apanel × η (3)

Where, Wp is the installed peak power (kWp), GHIp is the peak global horizontal irradiation (kWp/m2), and η is the panel efficiency (%)
at Standard Test Conditions (STC). GHIp (Global Horizontal Insolation) was assumed to be 1 (kWp/ m2 ). Generation capability of the
FPV plant in different months and the average yearly generation were calculated using PVGIS, which is a free solar photovoltaic energy
calculator for stand-alone or grid-connected solar PV plants [22]. Previously determined installed peak PV power, and tilt angle of the
solar panels are given as input to PVGIS.
Next, capacity factor, C, on monthly basis was determined using Eq. (4).
EP
C= × 100 (4)
WP × T

Where, Ep is the generated energy during analysing time period (kWh), and T is the time period (hours). A typical floating PV plant can

Fig. 2. Proposed FPV installation at Dhanmondi Lake, Dhaka.

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be seen from Fig. 2. It generally consists of solar panels along with mooring devices. The underwater cables are connected with the
inverters installed on land which then transmissions power through the network. Moreover, a map with solar PV installations in one of
the lakes of this study is shown in Fig. 2 as an example [5].
In order to compare the contribution of the generated electricity to the national grid, monthly average demand information was
collected from BPDB (Bangladesh Power Development Board) website [23]. In general, the candidate days were 15th day of the month,
unless it was a weekend; in that case nearest weekday was selected. Then the average peak demand was compared with previously
determined installed power of the FPV plant in order to obtain the percentage of aid to the national grid.

2.4. Plant design

To practically realize the results found from PVGIS, a design for the proposed FPV farm is proposed at this stage. At first, the
inverter with proper rating must be selected as per Eq. (5).
WP
Winv = (5)
κ

Where, Winv is the inverter rating (W), and κ is the AC-DC ratio. Afterwards, a module rating is to be assumed in order to get the number
of total modules required, which is calculated as per Eq. (6).
WP
NT = (6)
Wmodule

Where, Wmodule is the module rating (W), and NT is the total number of required modules. For that reason, an initial assumption is to be
made about the rating of the solar modules, which can later be modified to give a better performance.
Next, the string configuration of the solar panels is to be determined. In order to calculate that, the inverter maximum and min­
imum voltage, and module open circuit voltage (VOC) are to be known.
Vmax
Ns,max = (7)
Voc

Vmin
Ns,min = (8)
Voc

Where, Vmax , Vmin , Voc , Ns,max , and Ns,min are inverter maximum operating voltage (V), inverter minimum operating voltage (V), module
open circuit voltage (V), maximum modules per string, and minimum modules per string respectively. Any number of modules per
string can be picked from this range of maximum and minimum number of modules as given by Eqs. (7) and (8).

2.5. Economic analysis

Based on the design proposed in the previous subsection, an economic analysis is carried out to evaluate the implementation
feasibility of the plant. Economic viability is determined based on three (3) indices, which are:

1. Net Present Value (NPV): NPV is one of the important measures to evaluate a project’s economic feasibility. NPV is in general a
comparison between cash inflows and cash outflows and is defined as per Eq. (9).
∑
N
Fn
NPV = (9)
n=0
(1 + d)n

Where, NPV is the Net present value, Fn is the net cash flow in year n, N is the time period in which the analysis took place, and d is the
annual discount rate.
When NPV > 0, it means after the analysis period, the revenues (cash inflow) exceed the cost which indicates that the project is
economically feasible. But only from NPV, one cannot ensure a project’s viability; for that, other economic parameters must be
evaluated [24].

2. Internal Rate of Return (IRR): IRR is the measure of discount rate at which NPV becomes zero at the end of the analysis period.
IRR is defined as per Eq. (10):
∑
N
Fn
NPV = =0 (10)
n=0
(1 + IRR)n

Generally, the higher the IRR, the better. So, when the IRR of a project exceeds the cost of capital and investments, then the project
can be accepted [24].
3. Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE): The levelized cost of energy is the total cost expressed in cents for per kW-hour of electricity
delivered by the system. LCOE is defined as per Eq. (11):

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M.F.I. Faruqui et al. Heliyon 9 (2023) e16785

∑
N
Qn × LCOE ∑
N
Cn
n = (11)
n=1
(1 + d) n=0
(1 + d)n

Where, Qn denotes the electricity supplied by the system to the grid in year n, N is the analysis period, Cn is annual project cost, and d is
the discount rate.
When LCOE is greater than market price, the project should be accepted provided that other parameters also indicate positive
economic effects of the project [25].

2.6. Comparison with inland PV plants

Based on electricity generation and economic feasibility calculated from above mentioned steps, the inland PV plants vary from the
proposed FPV plants. Moreover, the plants also vary in terms of environmental aspects as well as installation cost factors.

3. Results

The purpose of this section to assess the generation potential and economic feasibility of the proposed FPV plants following the
mentioned methodology. The generation subsection is further categorized into Dhaka lakes, non-Dhaka lakes and Kaptai lake. Next, an
economic evaluation and profitability of the plants are demonstrated in the subsequent subsections.

3.1. Solar power generation and capacity factor

The generation of the lakes was calculated by on the basis of the results derive from PVGIS irradiance values.

3.1.1. Dhaka lakes

Dhaka, the capital of the country, consumes 46% of the total demand of Bangladesh [26]. Therefore, solar power generation can
help taking the load off the main grid. In this study, three (3) lakes were considered for potential floating PV installation site, namely -
Dhanmondi lake, Gulshan lake and Hatirjheel lake (Figs. 2 to 4).
As it is one of the densest megacities in the world with 23,234 people per square km [27], conservative approach was taken to
finalize the location of potential floatovoltaic plants. Dhanmondi and Hatirjheel lakes have the facilities of water taxi and recreational
boat riding. Gulshan lake has diplomatic buildings i.e., foreign embassies on its basin. Therefore, while calculating the coverage of
floating PVs, it was taken into careful consideration that there was no impairment to the usual day-to-day activities of the nearby areas,
and to the people residing on those locations. The areas were calculated drawing mini solar FPV panels on Google Earth pro. All the
calculated areas were around 5% of the total surface area of the lake. Therefore, 5% of the total surface area was chosen as reference
point for this study. Study on the floating PV potential for 10% and 15% of the total area of the lakes were also carried out. However, it
was decided not to exceed 15% of the area for the sake of maintaining conservative approach.
Fig. 5 shows the monthly power generation and the respective capacity factors for the installed floating PV plants on the lakes in

Fig. 3. Proposed FPV installation at Gulshan Lake, Dhaka.

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Fig. 4. Proposed FPV installation at Hatirjheel Lake, Dhaka.

Dhaka. Capacity factors were determined using Eq. (4).

It is evident from Fig. 5 that March and April have the highest potential to generate electricity which conforms to the fact that
summer prevails at this time of the year which results in high irradiance. In Summer, which is around the March–April months,
Bangladesh has the highest irradiance values which is 2000 kWh/ m2 where it goes down to 1500 kWh/ m2 during winter (December-
January) which can be seen from Fig. 6 which is obtained from solar PVGIS.
Electricity production in Bangladesh reached 5,008 GWh in February 2021 [28], approximately 40% of which is allocated to
Dhaka, which is 2003.2 GWh. According to the data obtained from PVGIS, yearly production of these three lakes using 5% of the total
area of the lakes is 19.4 GWh which is about 1% of the overall generation of Dhaka. The coverage area of the plant up to 15%, the
generation becomes 3% of the overall generation of the city.
Among the three lakes, Hatirjheel lake has the potential to generate the highest amount of electricity and Dhanmondi lake has the
least which can be seen from Fig. 7. In addition, from Table 4, the total installed capacity using different areas of the lake can be seen.

3.1.2. Waterbodies outside Dhaka

For assessing the potential for floating PV outside Dhaka city, a few major lakes around the country were considered as prospective
sites. In particular, man-made lakes are considered which have large potential for floatovoltaic generation. Those are Joydia Baor
(Jhenaidah), Bukbhara Baor (Jessore) and Barapukuria lake (Dinajpur). It is also noteworthy to mention that these lakes were
mentioned in feasibility study report, conducted, and published by Asian Development Bank (ADB) to be the potential plants for solar
FPV. ADB estimated specific yield to be 1,456 kWh/kWp for Barapukuria, 1,493 kWh/kWp for Bukbhara and 1,495 kWh/kWp for
Joydia Baor [15].
Fig. 8 shows the monthly power generation and the respective capacity factors of the lakes, as found from the study conducted in
this paper.

Fig. 5. Monthly power generation and capacity factors of FPV installations at selected lakes of Dhaka.

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Fig. 6. Monthly in-plane irradiation in Bangladesh.

Fig. 7. Energy Generation from selected lakes of Dhaka.

Table 4
FPV plant capacity of Dhaka lakes.
Lakes FPV power plant capacity (MW)

5% area 10% area 15% area

Dhanmondi 1.7 3.4 5.1

Gulshan 5.7 11.4 17.1
Hatirjheel 6.4 12.9 19.3

The study in this paper took a conservative approach and considered 15% of the total area for floating PV installation. The
conservativeness is warranted, considering the human habitation on the banks of the lakes. However, study was also conducted for
20% and 25% of the total area keeping future expansion of the plant in mind. From PVGIS data, it is perceptible that Barapukuria lake
possess the highest potential for floatovoltaic generation which is evident in Fig. 9.
The study in this paper conducted specific yield to be 1412.79 kWh/kWp for Barapukuria lake, 1469.243 kWh/kWp for Bukbhara
haor and 1470.614 kWh/kWp for Joydia Baor which closely resembles the estimation of ADB. In Table 5, total installed capacity using
different areas of the lake can be seen.

3.1.3. Kaptai Lake

Kaptai lake, located on the South-West of the country, is the largest lake of Bangladesh. It houses the only Hydro-electric power
plant (HPP) in Bangladesh. As the total surface area of Kaptai is about 777 sq km [29], it has a huge potential for solar FPV. Therefore,
the electricity generated from FPV can take some load off from the HPP and aid to the main grid. Moreover, the water saved from

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Fig. 8. Monthly power generation and capacity factors of FPV installations at selected waterbodies outside Dhaka.

Fig. 9. Energy Generation from selected waterbodies outside Dhaka.

Table 5
FPV plant capacity of waterbodies outside Dhaka.
Lakes FPV power plant capacity (MW)

15% area 20% area 25% area

Joydia Baor 20.58 27.44 34.30

Bukhbhara Haor 20.44 27.26 34.07
Barapukuria lake 10.46 13.95 17.43

Fig. 10. Monthly power generation and capacity factors of FPV installations at Kaptai lake.

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evaporation can be used to increase the HPP generation.

Hybrid operation of the Kaptai HPP and installed FPV can ensure a balanced generation all throughout the year, as confirmed by the
results found in this study.
To follow a conservative approach 1%, 2% and 3% of the total surface area of the lake was considered for the study. The proposed
area can be seen from Fig. 10.
Higher temperature is encountered the summer season than in other time of the year, resulting in greater amount of evaporation.
Consequently, the generation capability of HPP reduces drastically during summer. However, installed FPVs could generate the highest
amount of electricity during summer. In addition to that, the evaporation loss would be significantly low around the FPV plant due to
shading provided by the panels, which eventually aid to the HPP production.

3.2. Support to the national grid

3.2.1. Meeting the demand of the capital

One way to understand the potential of floatovoltaic generation in Bangladesh is by assessing how FPVs can aid several load centers
around the country. As mentioned before, about 46% of the total demand of the country is attributed to Dhaka, followed by Chat­
togram as a close second. Owing to such heavy electricity demand at these two load centers, it is investigated how much of the loads at
these regions can be met with FPVs, and the results are shown subsequently. Operational reports of Bangladesh power grid were
obtained from Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) [30].
For calculating average peak demand of Dhaka, twelve (12) representative workdays from each month of the year were chosen. The
days were mostly 15th day of the month, unless it was a weekend; in that case nearest weekday was selected. Thereafter, average peak
demand was calculated which turned out to be 3847 MW. September had the highest demand with 4636 MW and January had the
lowest demand with 3078 MW which can be seen from Table 6 which is collected from BPDB website [23].
The efficiency of the solar panels was assumed to be 17% because most solar panels of the market have efficiency between 15% and
20% [31]. Taking most conservative approach (5% area of the three lakes within Dhaka city),
Total area of the solar panels = 81,430 m2 .
Therefore, installed peak power = 13.844 MW, which is almost 0.4% of the total demand in Dhaka. However, when 15% area of the
lakes are considered,
Total area of the solar panels = 244,310 m2 .
In that case, installed peak power = 41.53 MW, which is almost 1.1% of the average peak demand in Dhaka.

3.2.2. Meeting the demand of Chattogram circle

The FPV plant established at Kaptai lake can meet a certain portion of the demand of Chattogram city, which encompasses the
largest economic zone and seaports of the country.
Twelve (12) days from all the months were selected and average was calculated. The average peak load turned out to be 1198.42
MW. April had the highest demand with 1371 MW and February had the lowest with 899 MW which can be seen from Table 7 [23].
In order to maintain a conservative approach (1% surface area of the whole lake), the total generation capability we got from PVGIS
turned out to be 88.22 MW, which is more than 7% of the overall demand of Chittagong area.

3.3. Economic viability

Up to this point, the potential of the FPV plants was discussed. However, these plants are needed to be economically feasible in
order to be deployed practically. In this study, the assessment of economic potential was done based on few parameters which are:
LCOE, NPV and IRR. The simulations were done in System Advisory Model (SAM).

Table 6
Average peak electricity demand in Dhaka.
Month Monthly Peak Demand (MW)

January 3078
February 3215
March 3931
April 4189
May 3310
June 4299
July 4465
August 3771
September 4636
October 4554
November 3519
December 3197

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Table 7
Average peak electricity demand in Chattogram.
Month Monthly Peak Demand (MW)

January 1025
February 899
March 1133
April 1371
May 1169
June 1264
July 1319
August 1189
September 1327
October 1337
November 1347
December 1001

3.3.1. Plant design

For the simulations to run, system installed capacity must be given as input. Hatirjheel lake can be taken as an example for better
understanding of the process of economic analysis. From technical analysis, it was seen that installed peak power of Hatirjheel was
6.444 MW using 5% of the area of the total lake.
In this study, DC-AC ratio is assumed to be 1.2. Therefore, using Eq. (5), the inverter size should be 5.3 MW.
According to the calculations, the selected models of inverter and solar modules are mentioned in Table 8.
Similarly, for other the other lakes the inverter size was selected according to the calculations and the modules were taken the same
as the one of Hatirjheel analysis. To generate 6.444 MW power, required number of modules with STC power rating of 256.81 W are:
25000 modules (approx). In addition, inverter maximum and minimum voltage, and module VOC (Open Circuit voltage) are considered
to determine string size. Therefore, using Eqs. (7) and (8), maximum and minimum number of modules per string is found to be 13 and
9, respectively. Therefore, 13 modules per string in a subarray were selected which made 1930 strings in parallel in a subarray.
To calculate the installation cost, the module and inverter costs were considered as following based on globally accepted range of
values. On top of that, a fixed contingency amount was considered which accounted for the expected uncertainty in the direct cost
estimates, which included a percentage of the sum of the equipment, installation labour, and installer margin and overhead costs of the
project.
For operating cost, which represents annual expenditures on equipment and services that occur after the system is installed, is
considered as a fixed annual cost that is applied to each year in the project cash flow. The assumed values for the calculations can be
summarized from Table 9. In a similar way, required calculations were done for the other lakes, by changing the system specifications
and keeping the installation and operational costs same as Hatirjheel.

3.3.2. Evaluation of economic parameters

From Table 10, NPV is positive in all the cases, which indicates profitability; in other words, the monetary outcome of the project
exceeds the installation and operational costs. Next, the LCOE of all the cases are around 4 USD/kWh, whereas the market price of
electric energy is 0.053 USD/kWh for households and 0.086 USD/kWh for factories [32]. When LCOE > Market price, then project
should be implemented. As this is the case for all the proposed water bodies, the projects should be implemented.
IRR values came out to be positive and more than 10% which mean the projects would be profitable. Therefore, in all the cases,
different economic parameters indicate deployment of FPV plants to be beneficial financially.

4. Comparison with inland PV plants

The significant portion of solar based power generation comes from the inland PV plants. For considering FPVs as potential source
of power generation, a thorough comparison with inland PV plants is required. To this end, this section conducts a thorough com­
parison between these two plant types considering energy generation, economic parameters, installation cost and environmental
aspects. For inland PV plants, the required information for the comparison purpose is taken from the existing works in the literature.
Following that, the calculated results for the proposed FPV plants in this study are used to provide an in-depth comparison. In Table 11,
the whole comparison analysis is given with critical insights.

Table 8
Models of inverter and solar modules.
Device type Brand name Model Specification

Inverter Delta Electronics E8-TL-US(AC) Operating voltage: 240 V

Module REC Solar REC255PE-US(BLK) STC Power Rating: 256.81 W

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Table 9
Assumed values for calculation of economic parameters.
Parameter Value

Module cost 0.06 USD/Wdc

Inverter cost 0.06 USD/Wdc
Contingency 3%
Fixed cost by capacity 15 USD/kW-yr
Analysis period 25 years
Inflation rate 2.5%/yr
Real discount rate 6.4%/yr
Nominal discount rate 9.06%/yr

Table 10
Analysis of economic parameters.
Name of the lake LCOE ($/kWh) NPV (x 100000 $) IRR (%)

Hatirjheel 3.94 2.98 14.92

Dhanmondi 4.86 3.76 11.20
Gulshan 3.41 2.87 18.33
Barapukuria 4.07 3.03 12.56
Bukbhara 3.93 4.77 14.95
Joydia 4.19 3.94 12.17
Kaptai 3.86 292.4 17.10

Table 11
List of impacts and attributes comparing inland and FPV plants.
Aspect Inland PV Floating PV Comments
2 2
Generation Inland PVs generate 4 to 6.5 kWh/m in Floating PVs generate 8.3 kWh/m in daily basis The generation capability clearly
capability daily basis [32]. which is obtained by calculation in this study. indicates FPVs being more efficient
which can also be backed up by Ref. [5].
Economic IRR of Dhaka, Chittagong and Dinajpur IRR of Dhaka (Dhanmondi, Gulshan and Hatirjheel), IRR suggests FPV plants are profitable
Parameters potential inland PV plants are 5.22%, Chittagong (Kaptai) and Dinajpur (Barapukuria) FPV by a large margin than the conventional
4.97% and 6,07% respectively [33]. plants are 14.82%, 17.10% and 12.56% respectively ( inland PV plants.
Table 7).
Installation The initial cost of inland PV plants Besides the panels, inverters and wirings, FPV requires Initial installation cost is slightly higher
Cost accounts for the solar panels, inverters moorings, buoy and support. in FPV plants.
and wirings.
Land The land acquisition cost of Dhaka is No land acquisition required. Government leasing is FPV costs less than inland ones in this
Acquisition 85.92 USD/m2 [34]. sufficient. aspect.
Cost
Deforestation Inland PV requires deforestation and FPV does not require any form of deforestation. Inland PV therefore has an adverse
usage of cultivable lands. impact on the climate change.

5. Limitations

This study provides a comprehensive techno-economic assessment of the potential for floating solar systems in selected water
bodies of Bangladesh. However, there are certain limitations to this work. These limitations can be used as a steppingstone for
improving the FPV research in Bangladesh as well as other South Asian countries with similar irradiation values and climate condi­
tions. The limitations can be mentioned as follows.

• The social aspects of the installation of proposed FPV plants have not been discussed in this study. This includes but not limited to
the perception of the general people living in the outskirts of these water bodies and impact on the water body aesthetics. This can
be a scope of further research, not only for this specific study, but also throughout the world as studies done on social aspects of FPV
are not adequate.
• As this is a case study, it does not include all the water bodies in the country. Further research can be done in order to evaluate the
eligibility of other existing water bodies.
• There might be some legal barriers alongside the social ones, such as difficulty to obtain water rights and environmental permits.
The study of this legal issues has not been included in this study and can be an opportunity for further research for effective
implementation of these proposed plants.

Although the economic parameters show favourable results, the plants may not get implemented because of the limitations
mentioned. Nevertheless, the conducted techno-economic analysis can play a significant role in unlocking Bangladesh’s floatovoltaic

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potential with the proper government policies and the removal of social and legal barriers.

6. Conclusion

This research conducts a thorough analysis using a proposed methodology to assess the technical and economic feasibility of FPV
plants on selected water bodies in Bangladesh. In addition, this research is the first to analyze the contribution of FPVs to the national
grid. Furthermore, a comparison of the planned FPV plants with their inland counterparts is performed, considering several aspects.
Even when geographical variables and system losses are taken into account, the proposed plants indicate strong generating potential in
each of the case studies. Intriguingly, the findings indicate that the proposed plants in Dhaka could meet 1.1% of the city’s entire
demand, and that those in Kaptai Lake could satisfy 7% of Chattogram, the country’s port city. In terms of the economic evaluation
(LCOE, NPV, and IRR), each of the proposed plants demonstrates project viability following implementation. Although the proposed
FPV plants initially cost more than inland PV plants, the projected plants have superior generating capabilities and profitability than
the inland counterparts.
However, further study is required to assess the social and legal barriers that these FPV installations may confront. The study may
be expanded further by exploring the Feed in Tariff (FIT) approach that several countries, including Vietnam, utilize for their FPV
plants [35]. Moreover, the water conservation benefits of implementing these plants may be a promising focus for future research. As
this is the first technical and economic analysis of the potential of FPV plants on several important water reservoirs of Bangladesh, it
will certainly open doors for further research and analysis. Through large-scale implementation of FPV plants, Bangladesh can
significantly reduce the energy crisis and generate adequate power for meeting the local demand.

Author contribution statement

Md. Fatin Ishraq Faruqui, Atik Jawad: Conceived and designed the experiments; Performed the experiments; Analyzed and
interpreted the data; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper.
Nahid-Al-Masood: Analyzed and interpreted the data; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper.

Data availability statement

Data will be made available on request.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
influence the work reported in this paper.

Appendix

Geographical Location of the Proposed Lakes.

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M.F.I. Faruqui et al. Heliyon 9 (2023) e16785

Fig. A.1. Geographical location of the proposed sites (a) Lakes of Dhaka (Dhanmondi, Gulshan and Hatirjheel lakes), (b) Kaptai lake, (c) Bar­
apukuria lake, (d) Joydia Baor, and (e) Bukbhara Baor
Table A.1
Latitude and Longitude of the proposed sites

Lake District Latitude Longitude

Dhanmondi Lake Dhaka 23.744151 90.3777709

Hatirjheel Lake Dhaka 23.758088 90.404818
Gulshan Lake Dhaka 23.776822 90.419624
Barapukuria Lake Dinajpur 25.538594 88.968640
Bukbhara Baor Jessore 23.173346 89.114927
Joydia Baor Jhenaidah 23.442163 88.946493
Kaptai Lake Rangamati 22.602119 92.199487

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Fig. A.2. Map of Bangladesh with the proposed sites marked.

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