Study on a cable jumper method for offshore floating photovoltaic systems with multiple floating bodies

Owing to the flawed design of the jumper cable between floating bodies, excessive bending, stretching, and collision with the floating bodies occurred during operation, thereby affecting the reliable operation of the system. To solve the problem of fatigue failure in cross-floating cables, this study proposes a method for interconnecting cables between multiple floating bodies in offshore floating photovoltaic systems. First, the structure of the floating body is analyzed, and the cable-jumper scheme between typical hexagonal floating bodies is determined. Second, by analyzing the influence of the floating body structure on the jumper scheme, the key parameters and limiting conditions in the design steps of the cable straddle float were determined. A method is proposed to meet operational requirements through the reasonable planning of jumper parameters, and a two-stage solution framework for cable jumper schemes is established. In the first stage, trust-region particle swarm optimization is employed to determine the feasible solution region of the spanning scheme variables. In the second stage, the maximum fatigue life in the feasible solution region is determined as the optimal solution. Finally, a cable jumper model was built using Orcaflex software to verify the proposed scheme, and the effectiveness of the proposed method was demonstrated through an example analysis. The research shows that through reasonable planning of the jumper cable path, the bending state of the cable can be alleviated to a certain extent, thereby reducing fatigue damage and ensuring reliable operation during the operational period. (1) Optimizing the jumper parameters through reasonable planning of the jumper path can improve the reliability of flexible cables in harsh environments. This approach achieves the desired effect while reducing both time and economic costs compared with the use of protection devices such as bending limiters. (2) Cosserat theory was used to accurately model flexible cables, fully considering the influence of cable structural parameters on linear lines. The maximum fatigue life was identified as the key focus in solving the framework presented in this study, which is consistent with the simulation results obtained using Orcaflex software. This demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed framework and solution method. (3) In the floating scenario, the solution for the cable jumper scheme should focus on the bending protection of both ends and the middle part. This can be achieved through the installation of protective devices or the reasonable selection of parameters, such as cable length and effective span, through careful analysis.