Implementation of a Renewable Energy Source on Board a Passenger Ship: A PVsyst-Based Comparative Analysis of Deck- and Side-Mounted Photovoltaic Arrays

This paper investigates the feasibility of installing photovoltaic (PV) panels on board the cruise ship “Costa Fascinosa” as a supplementary renewable energy source, comparing two mounting configurations: a vertical array on the ship’s side and a horizontal array on the upper deck. Two independent PVsyst simulations were carried out for the Port of Constanța, using identical Meteonorm 9.0 meteorological input and the same generic 700 Wp bifacial monocrystalline module, without 3D shading modelling. The side array (1725 modules, 1208 kWp DC, 1000 kW AC) produces 1199 MWh/year, with a specific production of 993 kWh/kWp/year and a Performance Ratio (PR) of 87.5%. The deck array (1606 modules, 1124 kWp DC, 850 kW AC) produces 1445 MWh/year, with a specific production of 1286 kWh/kWp/year and a PR of 86.8%. Although the vertical array has a slightly higher installed power, it produces less total energy because of its 31.8% orientation loss, compared with only 15.4% for the horizontal array. The vertical array, however, shows a more balanced seasonal profile, with PR values above 0.93 in winter, while the deck array concentrates production in the summer months. Combined, the two arrays would total about 2332 kWp and a theoretical annual yield of approximately 2.64 GWh, with a considerably more uniform generation profile than either configuration alone. As the results were obtained in PVsyst evaluation (TRIAL) mode, without shading, ship-motion or bifacial-gain modelling, they represent an optimistic upper bound and should be refined through a subsequent 3D, route-based simulation before being used in an economic assessment.