Methodology for Optimization of Stand-Alone Solar Photovoltaic Systems

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Fumo ◽  
V. Bortone ◽  
J. C. Zambrano
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Photovoltaic System ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Solar Photovoltaic ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Photovoltaic Array ◽  
Net Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Solar Photovoltaic System

The concept of Net-Zero Energy in building refers to a building which has an annual balance of energy flow at the utility meter of zero. The concept implies that the building may consume energy from an external provider at times in order to satisfy the building demands, but at other times it must produce enough on-site energy to compensate for this energy. The use of renewable energy technologies is implicit as the source of energy to compensate for any energy used from an external provider. Solar photovoltaic is a proved technology for achieving Net-Zero Energy building but economic factors has limited its broad use. The design stage of a solar photovoltaic project is critical to make a project feasible. In the design stage, the equipment sizing must be optimized in order to reduce the initial capital cost and, therefore, improve the economics of the project. For houses, which is the focus of this paper, a stand-alone solar photovoltaic system must supply the house energy demand at all times since it is not connected to the electric grid. As a means to size the system, data of solar energy availability must be used to ensure that the system will provide enough energy to satisfy the energy demand as well as provide energy to charge the batteries that will provide the energy required when the solar energy is not available. In this paper, a methodology to optimize the size of the photovoltaic array and the battery bank is proposed. The methodology accounts for Typical Meteorological Year data (TMY3) to ensure that the system, based on accepted statistical data, will be able to satisfy the energy demand at all times. An example that uses energy demand data obtained from the simulation of a house using the software EnergyGauge is used to illustrate the implementation of the methodology.

Solar Energy Assessment in Various Regions of Indian Sub-continent

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johny Renoald Albert ◽  
Dishore Shunmugham Vanaja
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Graphical Representation ◽  
Photovoltaic System ◽  
Solar Irradiation ◽  
Solar Photovoltaic ◽  
Pv System ◽  
Energy Assessment ◽  
Energy Auditing ◽  
Solar Photovoltaic System

The demand for sustainable energy has increased significantly over the years due to the rapid depletion of fossil fuels. The solar photovoltaic system has been the advantage of converting solar irradiation directly to electricity, and it is suitable for most of the regions. But in the case of solar energy conversion, the voltage evolved from the solar photovoltaic cells is not adequate to meet the energy demand. Therefore, the converters and inverters with energy storage systems are used to fulfill the energy demand. These conversion architectures create new challenges for effective management of the grid. Due to the evaluation of power generation, load in a particular region or area, let us simplify with the help of the duck curve. The study is focused on the energy auditing, assessment, and measurement of solar irradiation from PV system design software. This graphical representation is implemented with a typical electricity load pattern at any region.

Uncertainty Analysis for Dimensioning Solar Photovoltaic Arrays

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heejin Cho ◽  
Nelson Fumo
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Uncertainty Analysis ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
World Population ◽  
Solar Photovoltaic ◽  
Photovoltaic Array ◽  
Photovoltaic Arrays ◽  
Photovoltaic Technology

As the world population increases, so does their demand for energy. The demand of energy is mainly in the form of electricity with an origin primarily from fossil fuels. Since solar photovoltaic technology has the ability to convert solar energy directly into electricity, this technology has become one of the most popular alternatives at all scales for substitution of technology that uses fossil fuels. However, a limiting factor for the massive use solar photovoltaic technology is economics. A key component in the overall strategy to overcome the economic limitation of solar photovoltaic technology is the system size optimization at the design stage. At the design stage, data related to the solar energy availability, energy demand, and equipment performance is used to determine the size of the equipment while being able to satisfy the targeted peak energy demand. In general, a common engineering safety factor is used to ensure the system to meet the energy demand during its life cycle operation. The sizing procedure of solar photovoltaic systems can be further improved to be more reliable and economical when the uncertainty in the design process is considered. This paper presents a framework to perform an uncertainty analysis that can lead to improve sizing process for solar photovoltaic arrays. Through results from the application of the proposed approach, a reliable interval for the size of the photovoltaic array is found that can lead to more accurate and economic design compared to the use of common engineering safety factors.

scholarly journals Performance Data from the NIST Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility

2017 ◽  
Vol 122 ◽  
Author(s):  
William M Healy ◽  
A Hunter Fanney ◽  
Brian P Dougherty ◽  
Lisa Ng ◽  
Vance Payne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hot Water ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Indoor Environments ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Operational Strategies ◽  
Photovoltaic Array ◽  
Net Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Second Year ◽  
One Year

Data were collected over two separate year-long test periods at the Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility, alaboratory designed to evaluate a variety of technologies and operational strategies that lead to energy efficient houses with comfortable and healthful indoor environments. In a net-zero energy building, all energy consumption over the course of a year is offset by on-site renewable energy production; this facility attempts to meet that goal through use of a photovoltaic array installed on the roof. Data are presented for one-year test periods over which the research team examined whether the facility would reach net-zero status. In both years, the house was operated in an all-electric configuration, with slight modifications made in the second year related to control schemes and equipment selection. A virtual family of four was simulated to carry out the operations that would typically occur in a home (e.g., appliance usage, lighting usage, hot water usage). Data are being released for the second year of operation at the time of publication of this document, with an expectation that data from the first year will be released at a later date.

scholarly journals Performance Assessment of Motorized Solar Photovoltaic Louvers System Using PVSYST Software

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hussein Safwat Hasan ◽  
Humor Hwang
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Photovoltaic System ◽  
Solar Photovoltaic ◽  
Market Penetration ◽  
Simulation Tools ◽  
Building Facades ◽  
Internal Network ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Solar Photovoltaic System

In the realm of technological market penetration of solar photovoltaiclouvers (PVL) addressing environmental difficulties and the industrialrevolution, a new avenue of renewable energy is introduced. Moreover,solar energy exploitation through building façades was addressedthrough motorized solar photovoltaic louvers (MPVL). On the otherhand, proponents exalted the benefits of MPVL overlooking the typicalanalyses. In this communication, we attempted to perform a thoroughindustrial system evaluation of the MPVL. This communication presentsa methodology to validate the industrial claims about MPVL devices andtheir economic efficiency and the insight on how geographical locationinfluences their utilization and augment their potential benefits. This taskis carried out by evaluating the extent of solar energy that can be harvestedusing solar photovoltaic system (PVSYST) software and investigatingwhether existing product claims are associated with MPVL are feasible indifferent locations. The performance and operational losses (temperature,internal network, power electronics) were evaluated. To design and assessthe performance of different configurations based on the geographicalanalogy, simulation tools were successfully carried out based on differenttopographical locations. Based on these findings, various factors affect theemployment of MPVL such as geographical and weather conditions, solarirradiation, and installation efficiency. tt is assumed that we successfullyshed light and provided insights into the complexity associated withMPVL.

Goal: Zero Energy Building Exemplary Experience Based on the Solar Estate Solarsiedlung Freiburg am Schlierberg, Germany

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 93-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mira Heinze ◽  
Karsten Voss
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Zero Energy Building ◽  
Net Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
The World ◽  
Zero Carbon ◽  
Net Zero Energy Buildings

Zero energy consumption. The goal sounds simple and is presented excessively in variations all over the world. Energy and environmental politics demand zero consumption as a long-term goal, marketing has discovered the concept and first buildings and settlements aiming at balanced energy or emission budgets have been constructed. As an example, the German Federal Government specifies in its fifth energy research programme (2005): For new buildings, the goal is to reduce the primary energy demand, i.e. the energy demand for heating, domestic hot water, ventilation, air-conditioning, lighting and auxiliary energy, again by half compared to the current state of the art. The long-term goal is zero-emission buildings. England and the USA aim for zero carbon developments and net-zero energy buildings (DOE, 2009) in political programmes. The Vatican accepted the offer of climatic “indulgence”—and thus became the first country in the world to completely compensate its carbon emission (Spiegel online, 2007). Megaprojects in the growth regions of the Arabian Gulf and China advertise with a CO2-neutral balance. A Zero Carbon Community is to be created in Masdar, Abu Dhabi (Foster, 2007), and the first Chinese carbon-neutral ecocity was planned for Dongtan, Shanghai (Pearce, 2009). Not only to aid international communication, but also to further the processes required to solve energy-related problems, it is essential that key words, central concepts, their usage and their relationships be clarified. This article intends to contribute to this clarification based on the monitored example of a solar estate. Net zero energy building, equilibrium building, carbon neutral city—the accounting method varies, depending on motivation and point of view. If the focus is on finite and scarce resources, energy is the currency; CO2-equivalent emissions are considered if global warming and public health is the issue; the cost of energy is what concerns a tenant paying for heating and electricity. A balance in one set of units can be converted to another, but the conversion factors often also shift the balance point. Energy will be used as the reference quantity in the following article, which prevents confusion with non-energy measures (e.g. carbon credits for forestry) and avoids the nuclear power debate, in which nuclear power is partly calculated as being CO2 neutral. The diversity of concepts is an indicator that a scientifically based methodology is still lacking, though initial publications focus hereon (Pless et al. 2009). Since October 2008, a group of experts in the International Energy Agency has been addressing this issue under the heading, Towards Net Zero Energy Solar Buildings (Riley et al. 2008). The goal is to document and analyse outstanding examples that are close to being net zero-energy buildings, and while doing so, to develop the methodology and tools for working with such buildings. The Chair of Technical Building Services, University of Wuppertal, is co-ordinating the methodological work. The zero-energy approach—still under construction—will here be presented using a solar estate as an illustration.

Assessment of Photovoltaic Capabilities in Urban Environments: A Case Study of Islamabad, Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Zubair ◽  
Sajid Ghuffar ◽  
Muhammad Shoaib ◽  
Ahmed Bilal Awan ◽  
Abdul Rauf Bhatti
Keyword(s):  
Deep Learning ◽  
Solar Energy ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Coefficient Of Performance ◽  
Energy Yield ◽  
Cooling Load ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero

Abstract Photovoltaic (PV) estimation in an urban environment requires detection of rooftop area, design of PV system based on optimization on PV placement distance and the study of additional benefit of lower cooling load of building by shading provided by PV panels. The study is aimed at policymakers to introduce renewable energy policy toward net-zero energy buildings in urban areas. In this research, the capital city of Pakistan, Islamabad, is analyzed for rooftop PV capabilities using deep learning algorithms. The area of the rooftop is calculated by extracting buildings in high-resolution satellite imagery using a deep learning algorithm. The site location is analyzed for available solar energy resources. The distance between the rooftop-PV array is optimized based on self-shading losses, coefficient of performance, energy yield, net-zero energy analysis, and reduction of cooling load of the building provided by PV arrays as shading devices. The 40-km2 area of Islamabad considered in this research can generate 1038 GWh of solar energy annually from its 4.3-km2 rooftop area by installed capacity of 447 MW PV panels rows placed at 0.75 m apart. The electricity generated by Islamabad can curtail residential load from the national grid and form a near net-zero energy zone while the electrical energy from the grid can be provided to the industries to enhance the economy and reduce unemployment in Pakistan.

Towards Net-Zero Energy Buildings: A Case Study in Humid Subtropical Climate

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Owen Betharte ◽  
Hamidreza Najafi ◽  
Troy Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Subtropical Climate ◽  
Efficiency Improvement ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Energy Efficiency Improvement ◽  
Net Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero

The growing world-wide energy demand and environmental considerations have attracted immense attention in building energy efficiency. Climate zone plays a major role in the process of decision making for energy efficiency projects. In the present paper, an office building located in Melbourne, FL is considered. The building is built in 1961 and the goal is to identify and prioritize the potential energy saving opportunities and retrofit the existing building into a Net-Zero Energy Building (NZEB). An energy assessment is performed and a baseline model is developed using eQUEST to simulate the energy performance of the building. Several possible energy efficiency improvement scenarios are considered and assessed through simulation including improving insulation on the walls and roof, replacing HVAC units and upgrade their control strategies, use of high efficiency lighting, and more. Selected energy efficiency improvement recommendations are implemented on the building model to achieve the lowest energy consumption. It is considered that photovoltaic (PV) panels will be used to supply the energy demand of the building. Simulations are also performed to determine the number of required PV panels and associated cost of the system is estimated. The results from this paper can help with the decision making regarding retrofit projects for NZEB in humid subtropical climate.

scholarly journals Cost-Optimal Net Zero Energy Communities

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 2432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shabtai Isaac ◽  
Slava Shubin ◽  
Gad Rabinowitz
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Costs ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Urban Density ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Net Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Initial Stage ◽  
The Cost

The objective of this research is to study the cost of Net Zero Energy (NZE) communities of different urban scales and densities, while taking into consideration the local climate and the type of buildings in the community. A comprehensive model was developed for this purpose, with which the cost-optimal configuration of renewable energy-related technologies for an NZE community can be identified. To validate the model, data from two case studies that differed in their climate and building types were used. The results of this study contribute to a better understanding of the implications of NZE requirements for urban planning. An increase in the scale of a community was found to reduce energy costs, up to a certain point. Urban density, on the other hand, was found to have a more complex impact on costs, which depends on the local climate of the community and the subsequent energy demand. This underlines the importance of addressing the technological design of energy systems at the initial stage of the urban planning of energy-efficient communities, before the urban density, the unbuilt areas and the building types are set.

Energy Optimization in Net-Zero Energy Building Clusters

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Odonkor ◽  
Kemper Lewis ◽  
Jin Wen ◽  
Teresa Wu
Keyword(s):  
Smart Grids ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Optimization ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Energy Utilization ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero Energy ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Building Energy Optimization

Traditionally viewed as mere energy consumers, buildings have in recent years adapted, capitalizing on smart grid technologies and distributed energy resources to not only efficiently use energy, but to also output energy. This has led to the development of net-zero energy buildings, a concept which encapsulates the synergy of energy efficient buildings, smart grids, and renewable energy utilization to reach a balanced energy budget over an annual cycle. This work looks to further expand on this idea, moving beyond just individual buildings and considering net-zero at a community scale. We hypothesize that applying net-zero concepts to building communities, also known as building clusters, instead of individual buildings will result in cost effective building systems which in turn will be resilient to power disruption. To this end, this paper develops an intelligent energy optimization algorithm for demand side energy management, taking into account a multitude of factors affecting cost including comfort, energy price, Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system, energy storage, weather, and on-site renewable resources. A bi-level operation decision framework is presented to study the energy tradeoffs within the building cluster, with individual building energy optimization on one level and an overall net-zero energy optimization handled on the next level. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach is capable of significantly shifting demand, and when viable, reducing the total energy demand within net-zero building clusters. Furthermore, the optimization framework is capable of deriving Pareto solutions for the cluster which provide valuable insight for determining suitable energy strategies.

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