Techno-economic and environmental assessment of utilizing campus building rooftops for solar PV power generation

ABSTRACT

The academic institute, a huge consumer of energy, is still depending upon the grid and/or conventional fuel despite having potential areas of a solar PV installation. No such study has been reported in Nepal which has techno-economically discussed the potential use of academic institute rooftops for solar PV installation. In this study, we have investigated the techno-economic and environmental assessment of a 1 megawatt (MW) rooftop solar PV using PVsyst for Purwanchal Campus, Nepal. It has been estimated the plant will produce about 1,660 MWh of usable AC electricity annually and out of which 95% can be supplied to the grid. The remaining can fulfill the demand of the campus at sunshine hours. For this, a capital investment of about USD 961,404 is needed for the plant with an annual operating cost of USD 8,008. This project gives a 190% return of investment within its life of 25 years with a Levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of 0.069 USD/kWh. The performance ratio and payback period of the project are calculated at about 0.765 and 8.4 years, respectively. The system will produce about 97% less emission than that of diesel generator, which is currently being used for power backup. It is concluded that a 1 MW grid-connected solar PV system is feasible for the studied campus.

KEYWORDS:

• Economics
• feasibility study
• Purwanchal Campus
• PVsyst
• solar PV

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.

Highlights

• Techno-economic and environmental assessment is done for 1 MW Solar PV

• Capital investment of USD 961,404 with a payback period of 8.4 years is estimated

• Solar PV projects solve the energy need of the campus and also generate revenue

Nomenclature

ACAlternating current

DCDirect current

${ }^{\circ }C$Degree Celsius

$E_{arr}$Energy obtained from the solar array

$E_{frgrd}$Energy from the grid to campus during the night

$E_{req}$The energy required for the campus

$E_{solar}$Energy from solar to campus during the day

$E_{togrd}$Energy from solar to the grid during the day

$G_{irr}$Global effective incidence irradiance

HSolar insolation on the horizontal surface

kVKilovolt

kWKilowatt

kWhKilowatt-hour

LCELifecycle carbon emission

LCOELevelized cost of energy

MPPMaximum Power Point

MWMegawatt

MWhMegawatt hour

NPVNet present value

PRPerformance ratio

PVPhotovoltaic

SHSSolar home system

STCStandard test condition

$T_{\alpha }$Average monthly temperature

$T_{add}$Temperature adjustment

$T{k}_{vmp}$Module temperature coefficient of $V_{mp}$

$T{k}_{voc}$Module temperature coefficient of $V_{oc}$

$T_{max}$Maximum ambient temperature

$T_{min}$Minimum ambient temperature

$T_{STC}$The temperature at the standard test condition

tCO₂-eqtons of carbon dioxide equivalent

TODTime of day

USDUnited State Dollar

$V_{in\mathrm{\_}max}$Maximum inverter input voltage

$V_{mp}$Rated maximum power voltage

$V_{oc\mathrm{\_}max}$Maximum open-circuit voltage

WhWatt-hour

Acknowledgments

This study is supported by Purwanchal Campus, Institute of Engineering (IOE), Tribhuvan University (TU), under an undergraduate project work grant.