Assessment of floating photovoltaic productivity with fins-assisted passive cooling

[Display omitted] •A novel partially submerged floating FPV system with fins was explored.•The working temperature of the PSPV-AF decreased by 19.07 % at AR = 30 %.•The power and efficiency increased by 24.02 % and 22.24 % at AR = 20 %.•The optimized productivity gain is attained at the optimal AR = 20 %. An appropriate floating Photovoltaic FPV system cooling strategy that makes use of the surrounding water body can assist to avoid performance deterioration and increase the lifespan of standalone systems. Specifically, experimental research is conducted to investigate a variety of novel passive cooling approaches for such systems. The research focuses on various configurations of modified FPV, including a partially submerged floating (PSPV-AF) system with attached fins (AF) that was compared to a partially submerged floating system without fins (PSPV) and a bare conventional floating system (FPV-R), for which a comprehensive performance analysis and optimization were conducted. The suggested modified system with attached fins was then tested in a floating setup in outdoors real-circumstances. The results confirmed the PSPV-AF system's superiority over earlier techniques in the literature. At a submerged area ratio (AR) of 20 %, described as the percentage value of the underwater area to module area, it outperforms the FPV-R in terms of operating temperature reduction by about 19.07 %. The suggested module's performance is enhanced with an optimal submerging ratio of AR = 20 %, resulting in a 24.02 % increase in output power and a 22.24 % increase in electrical efficiency compared to FPV-R.