Hybrid floating solar photovoltaics-hydropower systems: Benefits and global assessment of technical potential

Floating solar photovoltaics (FPV) is an emerging, and increasingly viable, application of photovoltaics (PV) in which systems are sited directly on waterbodies. Despite growing market interest, FPV system deployment is nascent, and potential adopters remain concerned about the technology, the benefits it offers, the advantages to pairing it in hybrid systems (such as with hydropower), and how to analyze technical potential. To support decision making, we provide a review of associated benefits of hybrid FPV-hydropower system operation and a novel, geospatial approach to assess the global technical potential of these systems employing publicly available, global datasets. We identify significant potential globally for FPV hybridized with hydropower ranging from 3.0 TW to 7.6 TW (4,251 TWh to 10,616 TWh annual generation), based on the assumptions made. We detail operational benefits that these hybrid systems may provide that could be quantified in future modeling and/or analyses of existing or planned hybrid systems. •Provides an overview of floating solar photovoltaic (FPV) systems.•Reviews the potential benefits offered by hybrid FPV-hydropower system operation.•Proposes spatial approach to assess the global hybrid FPV-hydropower potential.•Identifies 3.0 TW to 7.6 TW of global potential for hybrid FPV with hydropower.