Analysis of All-Electric Ship Motions Impact on PV System Output Power in Waves

Waves encountering can cause significant ship motions and affect the photovoltaic power generation capacity in All-Electric Ships (AES) during extreme conditions. In this paper, a comprehensive strategy is proposed to examine the impact of modern vessels' movements on the PV system output and the ship power quality during various operating scenarios. The proposed theoretical model-based technique determines ship angles in a wave collision and assesses sun-related angles concerning the vessel motions. Based on the panel angles, the solar irradiance and the PV system power variations can be derived. The developed method can simultaneously evaluate the effect of ship motions on the photovoltaic power output and the in-and-out-of-water impact in wave collision conditions. Therefore, wave collision influences on a vessel power system can be accurately investigated at the vessel design and control level by employing the proposed interconnected approach. Analyses reveal that along with the in-and-out-of-water effect on the propellers, waves substantially impact the PV output. Thus, the aforementioned impacts should be taken into account jointly. It is shown that the PV power can vary up to 30 percent in extreme conditions. These deviations can be more prominent in concentrator PVs, which are more sensitive to sun-related angles.