Techno-Economic Assessment of Rooftop PV Systems in Residential Buildings in Hot–Humid Climates
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
3. Utilization of Roofs for PV Applications
4. Weather Data and Building Model Description
5. Net Energy Contribution by Solar PV System
5.1. Energy Production
5.2. Energy Savings
6. Environmental and Economic Analysis
6.1. Environmental Analysis
- The conversion factor for carbon dioxide is 0.796 (tonCO2/MWh).
- The conversion factor for methane is 0.02375 (kgCH4/MWh).
- The conversion factor for nitrous oxide is 0.00409 (kgN2O/MWh).
6.2. Economic Analysis
- The initial cost considers the following elements: system cost including PV panels, inverters, support and integration and installation cost. These were collected from local practitioners.
- The Performance Ratio (PF) for mono-crystalline PV is commonly between 75% and 85%.
- Degradation which is the reduction in output over time is considered in a linear manner. Manufactures guarantee a minimum power output of 93% and 85% over 12 and 25 years respectively. This can be seen as an average degradation number of 0.6%/year.
- Interest rate has been assumed to be 2% considering the average value over the previous decade [42].
7. Results and Discussion
7.1. Rooftop Area Availability
7.2. Net Energy Contribution
7.2.1. PV Power Production
7.2.2. Impact on Thermal Loads
7.3. Environmental and Economic Assessments
8. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Classification | Examples |
---|---|
Structural restrictions |
|
Service restrictions |
|
Accessibility restrictions |
|
Shading restrictions | Shadows of:
|
Other restrictions |
|
Month | Irradiation on Horizontal Plane (kWh/m2/day) | Irradiation on Optimally Inclined Plane (kWh/m2/day) | Direct Normal Irradiation (kWh/m2/day) |
---|---|---|---|
January | 3.8 | 5.1 | 4.3 |
February | 4.8 | 5.8 | 4.8 |
March | 6.1 | 6.7 | 5.5 |
April | 6.6 | 6.7 | 5.5 |
May | 7.8 | 7.3 | 6.7 |
June | 8.3 | 7.5 | 7.7 |
July | 7.9 | 7.3 | 6.8 |
August | 7.5 | 7.3 | 6.6 |
September | 6.9 | 7.5 | 6.9 |
October | 5.8 | 6.9 | 6.3 |
November | 4.2 | 5.3 | 4.4 |
December | 3.7 | 5.0 | 4.4 |
Year | 6.1 | 6.5 | 5.8 |
Villa | Apartment | |
---|---|---|
Roof details | | |
No. of floors | 2 | 3 + Annex |
No. of flats | - | 14 |
Area of roof (m2) | 240 | 254 |
Height of parapet wall (m) | 1.7 and 3.0 | 1.7 |
Utilization factor, UF | 0.15 | 0.13 |
Annual energy consumption (kWh) | 63,757 | 188,740 |
Description | |
---|---|
Location | Al-Khobar Lat: 26.2° N; Long: 50.2° E |
Orientation | Main elevation facing east |
Floor-to-floor height | 3.5 m |
Floor area | Total: 504 m2 Ground floor: 264 m2; First floor: 240 m2 |
Windows | Single glazed with aluminum frame WWR: 8% No shading devices |
Exterior Walls | 13 mm plaster/100 mm concrete block (medium)/30 mm extruded polystyrene/100 mm concrete block (medium)/13 mm plaster U-Value: 0.58 W/m2 k |
Roof | 30 mm terrazzo tiles/30 mm extruded polystyrene/200 mm reinforced concrete/13 mm plaster U-Value: 0.97 W/m2 k |
Lighting | Ground floor: 20 W/m2; First floor: 12 W/m2 |
Equipment | 4 W/m2 |
AC | Packaged DX unit Setpoint = 22 °C |
Infiltration | 0.5 ach |
Parameter | Description |
---|---|
Cell type | Monocrystalline |
Model | BP 4190 T |
Module area | 1.25 m2 |
Efficiency | 15.2% |
Output at STC | 190 W |
Output at NOCT | 137 W |
Parameters | Description | Reference |
---|---|---|
Initial cost of system (including PV, inverter, cabling and installation) | USD 1200/kWp | Practitioners |
Maintenance cost | 1% of the initial cost; inverters replacements in years 9 and 18 with 9% of initial cost | |
Interest rate | 2% | [42] |
Lifetime | 25 years | [5,35] |
Consumption Categories (kWh) | Residential USD/kWh (SAR/kWh) | Commercial USD/kWh (SAR/kWh) | Agriculture and Charities USD/kWh (SAR/kWh) | Governmental USD/kWh (SAR/kWh) | Private Educational Facilities, Private Medical Facilities USD/kWh (SAR/kWh) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
≤6000 kWh | 0.048 | 0.053 | 0.043 | 0.085 (0.32) | 0.048 (0.18) |
(0.18) | (0.20) | (0.16) | |||
>6000 kWh | 0.08 | 0.08 | 0.053 | 0.085 (0.32) | 0.048 (0.18) |
(0.30) | (0.30) | (0.20) |
Type of Coefficient | Villa | Apartment |
---|---|---|
Structural (Cstr) | 0.91 | 0.85 |
Services (Cser) | 0.59 | 0.57 |
Accessibility (Cacc) | 0.47 | 0.67 |
Shading (Csh) | 0.91 | 0.9 |
Other (Coth) | 0.93 | 0.75 |
Apartment | Villa | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Tilted 24° | Flat | Tilted 24° | Flat | |
PV capacity (kWp) | 5.1 | 6.8 | 5.3 | 8.4 |
PV modules Area (m2) | 34 | 45 | 35 | 55 |
Solar radiation (kWh/m2) | 1983 | 1843 | 1989 | 1838 |
Electricity output (kWh/year) | 6079 | 7380 | 6162 | 9191 |
Specific annual output (kWh/kWp) | 1185 | 1079 | 1158 | 1099 |
Reduction in PV output due to shading (%/year) | 20.1 | 21.4 | 18.2 | 18.8 |
Type | Net PV Area (km2) | Energy Output—Titled 24° (GWh/y) | Energy Output—Flat (GWh/y) |
---|---|---|---|
Apartment | 1.46 | 302 | 296 |
Villa | 2.32 | 495 | 461 |
Total | 3.78 | 797 | 757 |
UF = 0.15 | UF = 0.25 | UF = 0.40 | |
---|---|---|---|
PV output (kWh/y) | 6551 | 12,008 | 18,550 |
Annual PV output per unit of conditioned space area (kWh/m2) | 13 | 24 | 37 |
Proportion of building’s total energy consumption being met be PV (%) | 10 | 19 | 29 |
Saving in cooling load (%) | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Type | Total Energy Produced—Tilted 24° (MWh) | Reductions in CO2 Emissions (tons) | Reductions in CH4 Emissions (kg) | Reductions in N2O Emissions (kg) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 675,066 | 537,353 | 16,033 | 2761 |
Villa | 413,811 | 329,394 | 9828 | 1693 |
Apartment | 247,001 | 196,613 | 5866 | 1010 |
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Dehwah, A.H.A.; Asif, M.; Budaiwi, I.M.; Alshibani, A. Techno-Economic Assessment of Rooftop PV Systems in Residential Buildings in Hot–Humid Climates. Sustainability 2020, 12, 10060. https://doi.org/10.3390/su122310060
Dehwah AHA, Asif M, Budaiwi IM, Alshibani A. Techno-Economic Assessment of Rooftop PV Systems in Residential Buildings in Hot–Humid Climates. Sustainability. 2020; 12(23):10060. https://doi.org/10.3390/su122310060
Chicago/Turabian StyleDehwah, Ammar Hamoud Ahmad, Muhammad Asif, Ismail Mohammad Budaiwi, and Adel Alshibani. 2020. "Techno-Economic Assessment of Rooftop PV Systems in Residential Buildings in Hot–Humid Climates" Sustainability 12, no. 23: 10060. https://doi.org/10.3390/su122310060