IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v99y2016icp452-464.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economic feasibility of campus-wide photovoltaic systems in New England

Author

Listed:
  • Lee, Jongsung
  • Chang, Byungik
  • Aktas, Can
  • Gorthala, Ravi

Abstract

Compared to the national average residential retail electricity price, Connecticut (CT) had the 4th highest electricity price in the country with 19.23 cents/kWh in September 2015, nearly 50% higher than the national average for price of electricity. This study aims to assess the economic feasibility of the solar PV systems at the campus under realistic constraints, by analyzing actual data from the solar array on campus. The project focused on the economic feasibility of solar PV systems on campus with physical, spatial, and practical constraints that result in a project to deviate from theoretical (estimated) values. To achieve that, the prediction of the PV power generation from the building was developed and compared with the actual (measured) data.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee, Jongsung & Chang, Byungik & Aktas, Can & Gorthala, Ravi, 2016. "Economic feasibility of campus-wide photovoltaic systems in New England," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 452-464.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:99:y:2016:i:c:p:452-464
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2016.07.009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096014811630605X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2016.07.009?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rehman, Shafiqur & Bader, Maher A. & Al-Moallem, Said A., 2007. "Cost of solar energy generated using PV panels," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 11(8), pages 1843-1857, October.
    2. Branker, K. & Pathak, M.J.M. & Pearce, J.M., 2011. "A review of solar photovoltaic levelized cost of electricity," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(9), pages 4470-4482.
    3. Shrimali, Gireesh & Trivedi, Saurabh & Srinivasan, Sandhya & Goel, Shobhit & Nelson, David, 2016. "Cost-effective policies for reaching India's 2022 renewable targets," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 255-268.
    4. Eldin, S.A. Sharaf & Abd-Elhady, M.S. & Kandil, H.A., 2016. "Feasibility of solar tracking systems for PV panels in hot and cold regions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 228-233.
    5. Loomis, D.G. & Jo, J.H. & Aldeman, M.R., 2016. "Economic impact potential of solar photovoltaics in Illinois," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(P1), pages 253-258.
    6. Kurdgelashvili, Lado & Li, Junli & Shih, Cheng-Hao & Attia, Benjamin, 2016. "Estimating technical potential for rooftop photovoltaics in California, Arizona and New Jersey," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 286-302.
    7. Baurzhan, Saule & Jenkins, Glenn P., 2016. "Off-grid solar PV: Is it an affordable or appropriate solution for rural electrification in Sub-Saharan African countries?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1405-1418.
    8. Bustos, F. & Toledo, A. & Contreras, J. & Fuentes, A., 2016. "Sensitivity analysis of a photovoltaic solar plant in Chile," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(P1), pages 145-153.
    9. Indu Rani, B. & Srikanth, M. & Saravana Ilango, G. & Nagamani, C., 2013. "An active islanding detection technique for current controlled inverter," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 189-196.
    10. Çetin, Müjgan & Eğrican, Nilüfer, 2011. "Employment impacts of solar energy in Turkey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 7184-7190.
    11. Tiba, Chigueru & de A. Beltrão, Ricardo E., 2012. "Siting PV plant focusing on the effect of local climate variables on electric energy production – Case study for Araripina and Recife," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 309-317.
    12. Herrero, Ignacio & Rodilla, Pablo & Batlle, Carlos, 2015. "Electricity market-clearing prices and investment incentives: The role of pricing rules," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 42-51.
    13. Croucher, Matt, 2012. "Which state is Yoda?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 613-615.
    14. Chatzivasileiadis, Spyros & Ernst, Damien & Andersson, Göran, 2013. "The Global Grid," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 372-383.
    15. Fernández-Infantes, Alberto & Contreras, Javier & Bernal-Agustín, José L., 2006. "Design of grid connected PV systems considering electrical, economical and environmental aspects: A practical case," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(13), pages 2042-2062.
    16. Bazilian, Morgan & Onyeji, Ijeoma & Liebreich, Michael & MacGill, Ian & Chase, Jennifer & Shah, Jigar & Gielen, Dolf & Arent, Doug & Landfear, Doug & Zhengrong, Shi, 2013. "Re-considering the economics of photovoltaic power," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 329-338.
    17. Zhai, Pei, 2013. "Analyzing solar energy policies using a three-tier model: A case study of photovoltaics adoption in Arizona, United States," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 317-322.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Umberto Mecca & Paolo Piantanida & Francesco Prizzon & Manuela Rebaudengo, 2019. "Impact of Brownfield Sites on Local Energy Production as Resilient Response to Land Contamination: A Case Study in Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-16, April.
    2. Patrick Gregory B. Jara & Michael T. Castro & Eugene A. Esparcia & Joey D. Ocon, 2020. "Quantifying the Techno-Economic Potential of Grid-Tied Rooftop Solar Photovoltaics in the Philippine Industrial Sector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-20, September.
    3. Carvalho, Diego B. & Pinto, Bárbara L. & Guardia, Eduardo C. & Marangon Lima, José W., 2020. "Economic impact of anticipations or delays in the completion of power generation projects in the Brazilian energy market," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(P1), pages 1312-1320.
    4. Rômulo de Oliveira Azevêdo & Paulo Rotela Junior & Luiz Célio Souza Rocha & Gianfranco Chicco & Giancarlo Aquila & Rogério Santana Peruchi, 2020. "Identification and Analysis of Impact Factors on the Economic Feasibility of Photovoltaic Energy Investments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-40, September.
    5. Duman, A. Can & Güler, Önder, 2020. "Economic analysis of grid-connected residential rooftop PV systems in Turkey," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 697-711.
    6. Lee, Minhyun & Hong, Taehoon & Jeong, Jaewook & Jeong, Kwangbok, 2018. "Development of a rooftop solar photovoltaic rating system considering the technical and economic suitability criteria at the building level," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 213-224.
    7. Castro, Michael T. & Pascasio, Jethro Daniel A. & Delina, Laurence L. & Balite, Paul Heherson M. & Ocon, Joey D., 2022. "Techno-economic and financial analyses of hybrid renewable energy system microgrids in 634 Philippine off-grid islands: Policy implications on public subsidies and private investments," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    8. Yousef Alharbi & Ahmed Darwish & Xiandong Ma, 2023. "A Comprehensive Review of Distributed MPPT for Grid-Tied PV Systems at the Sub-Module Level," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-23, July.
    9. Muhammad Rauf Shaker & Betret S. Eustace & Harish Kumar G. Erukala & Raj G. Patel & Mujtaba B. Mohammed & Mohammed A. Jabri & Kush Desai & Rajesh Goyal & Byungik Chang, 2022. "Analysis of Survey on Barriers to the Implementation of Sustainable Projects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-17, December.
    10. Chang, Byungik & Starcher, Ken, 2019. "Evaluation of wind and solar energy investments in Texas," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 1348-1359.
    11. Li, Changsheng & Wang, Haiyu & Miao, Hong & Ye, Bin, 2017. "The economic and social performance of integrated photovoltaic and agricultural greenhouses systems: Case study in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 204-212.
    12. Seme, Sebastijan & Sredenšek, Klemen & Praunseis, Zdravko & Štumberger, Bojan & Hadžiselimović, Miralem, 2018. "Optimal price of electricity of solar power plants and small hydro power plants – Technical and economical part of investments," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 87-95.
    13. Karimi, Mohammad Sadjad & Fazelpour, Farivar & Rosen, Marc A. & Shams, Mehrzad, 2019. "Comparative study of solar-powered underfloor heating system performance in distinctive climates," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 524-535.
    14. Ciprian Cristea & Maria Cristea & Dan Doru Micu & Andrei Ceclan & Radu-Adrian Tîrnovan & Florica Mioara Șerban, 2022. "Tridimensional Sustainability and Feasibility Assessment of Grid-Connected Solar Photovoltaic Systems Applied for the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-23, August.
    15. D’Adamo, Idiano & Falcone, Pasquale Marcello & Gastaldi, Massimo & Morone, Piergiuseppe, 2020. "The economic viability of photovoltaic systems in public buildings: Evidence from Italy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    16. Jie Yang & Baorui Cai & Jingyu Cao & Yunjie Wang & Huihan Yang & Ping Zhu, 2023. "Comprehensive Characterization of Energy Saving and Environmental Benefits of Campus Photovoltaic Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-16, October.
    17. Ivo Araújo & Leonel J. R. Nunes & António Curado, 2023. "Preliminary Approach for the Development of Sustainable University Campuses: A Case Study Based on the Mitigation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-18, March.
    18. Suntiti Yoomak & Theerasak Patcharoen & Atthapol Ngaopitakkul, 2019. "Performance and Economic Evaluation of Solar Rooftop Systems in Different Regions of Thailand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-20, November.
    19. Olivieri, Lorenzo & Caamaño-Martín, Estefanía & Sassenou, Louise-Nour & Olivieri, Francesca, 2020. "Contribution of photovoltaic distributed generation to the transition towards an emission-free supply to university campus: technical, economic feasibility and carbon emission reduction at the Univers," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 1703-1714.
    20. Mohannad Bayoumi, 2020. "Potential of integrating power generation with solar thermal cooling to improve the energy efficiency in a university campus in Saudi Arabia," Energy & Environment, , vol. 31(1), pages 130-154, February.
    21. Nicole E. Statler & Amanda M. Adams & Ted C. Eckmann, 2017. "Optimizing angles of rooftop photovoltaics, ratios of solar to vegetated roof systems, and economic benefits, in Portland, Oregon, USA," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 320-331, September.
    22. Xingyu Zhu & Yuexia Lv & Jinpeng Bi & Mingkun Jiang & Yancai Su & Tingting Du, 2023. "Techno-Economic Analysis of Rooftop Photovoltaic System under Different Scenarios in China University Campuses," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-18, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tomosk, Steve & Haysom, Joan E. & Wright, David, 2017. "Quantifying economic risk in photovoltaic power projects," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 422-433.
    2. Lang, Tillmann & Gloerfeld, Erik & Girod, Bastien, 2015. "Don׳t just follow the sun – A global assessment of economic performance for residential building photovoltaics," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 932-951.
    3. Spiros Papaefthimiou, Manolis Souliotis, and Kostas Andriosopoulos, 2016. "Grid parity of solar energy: imminent fact or future's fiction," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Bollino-M).
    4. Ondraczek, Janosch, 2014. "Are we there yet? Improving solar PV economics and power planning in developing countries: The case of Kenya," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 604-615.
    5. Bayrak, Gökay & Kabalci, Ersan, 2016. "Implementation of a new remote islanding detection method for wind–solar hybrid power plants," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1-15.
    6. Li, Danny H.W. & Lam, Tony N.T. & Chan, Wilco W.H. & Mak, Ada H.L., 2009. "Energy and cost analysis of semi-transparent photovoltaic in office buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(5), pages 722-729, May.
    7. Moon, Yongma & Baran, Mesut, 2018. "Economic analysis of a residential PV system from the timing perspective: A real option model," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 783-795.
    8. Rawat, Rahul & Kaushik, S.C. & Lamba, Ravita, 2016. "A review on modeling, design methodology and size optimization of photovoltaic based water pumping, standalone and grid connected system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1506-1519.
    9. Muñoz-Cerón, E. & Lomas, J.C. & Aguilera, J. & de la Casa, J., 2018. "Influence of Operation and Maintenance expenditures in the feasibility of photovoltaic projects: The case of a tracking pv plant in Spain," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 506-518.
    10. Dalton, G.J. & Lockington, D.A. & Baldock, T.E., 2009. "Case study feasibility analysis of renewable energy supply options for small to medium-sized tourist accommodations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 1134-1144.
    11. Zhao, Zhen-Yu & Chen, Yu-Long & Thomson, John Douglas, 2017. "Levelized cost of energy modeling for concentrated solar power projects: A China study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 117-127.
    12. Becerra-Fernandez, Mauricio & Sarmiento, Alfonso T. & Cardenas, Laura M., 2023. "Sustainability assessment of the solar energy supply chain in Colombia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    13. Koumparou, Ioannis & Christoforidis, Georgios C. & Efthymiou, Venizelos & Papagiannis, Grigoris K. & Georghiou, George E., 2017. "Configuring residential PV net-metering policies – A focus on the Mediterranean region," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 795-812.
    14. Kantamneni, Abhilash & Winkler, Richelle & Gauchia, Lucia & Pearce, Joshua M., 2016. "Emerging economic viability of grid defection in a northern climate using solar hybrid systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 378-389.
    15. Zeng, Ziqiang & Nasri, Ehsan & Chini, Abdol & Ries, Robert & Xu, Jiuping, 2015. "A multiple objective decision making model for energy generation portfolio under fuzzy uncertainty: Case study of large scale investor-owned utilities in Florida," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 224-242.
    16. Zou, Hongyang & Du, Huibin & Brown, Marilyn A. & Mao, Guozhu, 2017. "Large-scale PV power generation in China: A grid parity and techno-economic analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 256-268.
    17. Espinoza, R. & Muñoz-Cerón, E. & Aguilera, J. & de la Casa, J., 2019. "Feasibility evaluation of residential photovoltaic self-consumption projects in Peru," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 414-427.
    18. Zou, Hongyang & Du, Huibin & Ren, Jingzheng & Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Zhang, Yongjie & Mao, Guozhu, 2017. "Market dynamics, innovation, and transition in China's solar photovoltaic (PV) industry: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 197-206.
    19. Dobrotkova, Zuzana & Surana, Kavita & Audinet, Pierre, 2018. "The price of solar energy: Comparing competitive auctions for utility-scale solar PV in developing countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 133-148.
    20. Bistline, John E. & Comello, Stephen D. & Sahoo, Anshuman, 2018. "Managerial flexibility in levelized cost measures: A framework for incorporating uncertainty in energy investment decisions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 211-225.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:99:y:2016:i:c:p:452-464. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.