Scientists from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom have evaluated the potential for integrating floating photovoltaic (FPV) systems with green hydrogen production on UK reservoirs.

PVsyst software was used to simulate annual electricity generation, while Homer Pro was used to model hydrogen production via electrolysis and its potential applications.

“In our previous work, we assessed the performance of both tracking and non-tracking floating photovoltaic (FPV) systems in the UK,” corresponding author Aritra Ghosh told pv magazine. “In this study, we extended the analysis by exploring the potential for hydrogen production using electricity generated from FPV installations.”

Ghosh added that the researchers selected two reservoirs as utility-scale case studies: Killington Reservoir in northwest England and Drift Reservoir in southwest England. “We evaluated hydrogen production under different FPV coverage scenarios, considering 10%, 25%, 50%, and the maximum feasible surface coverage of each water body,” he said.

Killington has a surface area of 0.64 km² (64 ha) and a mean depth of 5.2 m, while Drift covers 0.25 km² (25 ha) with a mean depth of 5.1 m. The floating solar systems were modeled using monocrystalline silicon modules, including a 570 W monofacial module and a 565 W bifacial module with a bifaciality factor of 0.70. Theoretical maximum configurations comprised 192,429 modules at Killington and 44,574 modules at Drift, corresponding to installed capacities of approximately 109.7 MWp and 25.4 MWp, respectively.

The systems were designed with fixed south-facing orientations, using tilt angles of 15° for the monofacial arrays and 12° for the bifacial arrays. In both monofacial and bifacial cases, the researchers simulated system performance under 10%, 25%, and 50% coverage scenarios. When surplus electricity was available, it was allocated to hydrogen production, assuming a PEM electrolyzer with 85% conversion efficiency.

“The study then investigated the potential end uses of the produced hydrogen in three sectors: domestic heating, transport, and residential electricity supply,” Ghosh added. “The results indicate that hydrogen utilization for heat production offers the greatest potential, primarily because it involves fewer energy conversion losses compared with electricity generation or transport applications. As a result, a larger proportion of the hydrogen’s energy content can be effectively delivered to end users for heating purposes.”

According to the results, maximum FPV deployment could generate approximately 61 GWh/year at Killington and 20 GWh/year at Drift. Surplus electricity during peak production enables PEM electrolysis, producing up to 869,149 kg/year and 185,277 kg/year of hydrogen from the bifacial systems, respectively. This hydrogen could alternatively deliver up to 9.216 GWh/year and 1.977 GWh/year of electricity, or 26.071 GWh/year and 5.558 GWh/year of heat, or support approximately 1,225,808 km/year and 454,550 km/year of hydrogen-powered transport.

“An additional and somewhat surprising finding of the study is the significant volume of water that could be conserved through reduced evaporation beneath the floating PV arrays,” said Ghosh. “At maximum FPV coverage, annual water conservation could reach approximately 1.96 million m³ at Killington Reservoir and 452,037 m³ at Drift Reservoir. These results highlight an often-overlooked co-benefit of FPV systems, demonstrating that, in addition to renewable electricity and hydrogen production, they can contribute to improved water resource management even in relatively cooler climates.”

The research findings were presented in “Floating Photovoltaic-Powered Green Hydrogen for Decarbonization of the Energy-Consuming Sectors in the United Kingdom,” published in Energies.