The Effect of Diffraction on the Redistribution of Wave Energy in the Lee of an Overtopping Type Wave Enegry Converter Array

A computationally efficient approximate analytical solution based on the classic solution for diffraction about a semi-infinite breakwater, is developed to assess the wave energy shadow down-wave of a single row array of overtopping type wave energy converters approximated as partially transmitting breakwater segments. The approximations associated with the solution are mitigated by a comparison with the mathematically exact but computationally expensive boundary element method for the same problem. The approximate analytical solution is compared with a hypothetical solution where diffraction is not accounted for to quantify the net re-distribution of wave energy by the diffraction mechanism with increasing down-wave distance from the array.