Join the trial lecture - October 9th at 10:15 AM (room 402, Department of Technology Systems)
"Performance assessments of vehicle integrated photovoltaics: findings from experimental research and simulations".
Conferral summary
Solkraft krever store arealer, og flytende solkraftverk på innsjøer og vannmagasiner kan bidra til å unngå arealkonflikter, men det er fortsatt lite kunnskap om hvordan solcellepanelene tåler forholdene på vannet. I sin avhandling har Nathan Abel Roosloot brukt en kombinasjon av modellering og testing til å undersøke hvordan fukt påvirker flytende solcellepaneler. Funnene hans viser at flytende paneler ikke nødvendigvis utsettes for mer fukt enn paneler på land, og at kantforsegling kan hindre fukt i å trenge inn i panelene, men at den kan løsne etter utendørs eksponering dersom den ikke er riktig produsert.
Main research findings
Solar power will soon be the world's cheapest and largest electricity source. But solar parks need a lot of land – land also needed for nature, farming and housing. As an alternative, solar panels can be placed on floating structures on water. However, it is still unknown how well they hold up there, as they can face challenges such as waves, salt and a lot of moisture.
This Ph.D. thesis helps answer this question in several ways. First, it presents a tool for inspecting floating solar plants in a standardised way, so damage can be counted and compared. Second, it models how much moisture floating solar panels experience compared to ones on land. It finds that floating panels do not necessarily face more moisture: climate and system design have a larger impact. Lastly, it evaluates sealants placed around the panel edges to keep moisture out. The thesis presents an effective way to determine how well they work. However, it also finds that, if not properly manufactured, the sealants can come loose after outdoor exposure, making them ineffective.
Together, the results help industry build durable floating solar systems, so solar power can keep growing without fighting for land.
Chair of defence
Prof., PhD, Cecilie Rolstad Denby, University of Oslo
Adjudication committee
1st Opponent: Private consultant & IEC TC82 member for UAE, PhD, Mauro Pravettoni, Shams PV Lab
2nd Opponent: Prof., PhD, Angèle Reinders, Eindhoven University of Technology
Chair of committee: Assoc. Prof., PhD, Mathias Hudoba de Badyn, University of Oslo
Supervisors
Main supervisor: Research director, PhD, Josefine Selj, IFE
Co-supervisor: Researcher, PhD, Gaute Otnes, IFE
Candidate contact information
Email: nathan.roosloot@ife.no
Phone: +47 459 10 810
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-roosloot/;
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=cVNxJ0kAAAAJ
For more information
PhD-coordinator: Yvonne Baade