A Techno-Economic Feasibility Analysis of Mono-Si and Poly-Si Photovoltaic Systems in the Rooftop Area of Commercial Building under the Feed-In Tariff Scheme

Abstract

Hong Kong’s government has recently introduced the feed-in tariff scheme to promote the photovoltaic (PV) system as a promising way to address global warming. The feed-in tariff scheme depends on the type of the PV system and its installed capacity. This study aimed to investigate the techno-economic feasibility of mono-Si and poly-Si PV systems in the rooftop area of a commercial building, Pao Yue-Kong Library of Hong Kong, under the feed-in tariff scheme. The analysis was carried out in two phases: (i) technical analysis of the rooftop PV systems by considering the shading effect and solar radiation and (ii) economic feasibility of the rooftop PV systems under the feed-in tariff scheme from the life cycle perspective. The main findings of the case study can be summarized: (i) the rooftop area of the target building would not be significantly affected by surrounding buildings; (ii) the highest amount of solar radiation was estimated at 136.96 kWh/m2 in October, while the lowest value was 55.64 kWh/m2 in February; (iii) the total amount of module energy yield from the mono-Si PV system was estimated at 917.58 kWh/kW, indicating that it was very similar but a little bit lower (i.e., 0.48%) than that for the poly-Si PV system (i.e., 921.98 kWh/kW); and (iv) payback periods for mono-Si and poly-Si PV systems were estimated at 8.67 and 8.31 years, respectively. The feasibility study can contribute to providing facility managers with a practical guideline to determine the appropriate strategy in implementing the PV systems in buildings under the feed-in tariff scheme.

Designing and Energy Estimation of Photovoltaic Energy Generation System and Prediction of Plant Performance with the Variation of Tilt Angle and Interrow Spacing

“…Photovoltaic performance and output energy depend upon photovoltaic panel face angle, photovoltaic type (polycrystalline, monocrystalline, amorphous silicon and microamorphous silicon), system component efficiency, location and solar radiation, but location and solar radiation play an important role [30]. Feed-in tariff scheme is used to promote polycrystalline silicon and monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic system [31]. Quality certification and standards are essential for the successful implementation and optimal operation of photovoltaic energy generation system in smart cities [32].…”

Benefit Optimization and Energy - Economy Environmental Analysis of Solar Rooftop Photovoltaic System at Industrial Segment in Indonesia

“…Solar radiation data regarding the electrical energy potential of solar rooftop PV systems in this study were taken directly through a pyranometer sensor that has been installed and operated for 1 year of observation and taken from the Meteonorm online database. Several studies were researched to measure the electrical energy potential of solar rooftop PV systems in various countries including India [7], Nepal [24], Hongkong [29], Bangladesh [5], Turkey [8], Egypt [9], Maldives [2], Thailand [30], and Brazil [19].…”

“…Previous research on the techno-economic analysis of solar rooftop PV systems on new industrial buildings was conducted in Egypt [12] and Uganda [21]. A comparison of the techno-economic analysis of PV module technology has also been carried out but only in the residential segment in Colombia [22] and Semarang, Indonesia [34], as well as the commercial segment in Hong Kong [29] and public facility buildings [36]. In addition, there is also a study that compares the techno-economic analysis of solar panel technology on several types of cooling systems for floating PV systems in Taiwan [6].…”

A Novel Approach for Day-Ahead Hourly Building-Integrated Photovoltaic Power Prediction by Using Feature Engineering and Simple Weather Forecasting Service

“…The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported that solar energy accounted for 45% of the total renewable energy sources in 2016 (a 50% increase compared to 2015) [10]. However, even though PV power is the most widely used renewable energy source in residential, commercial, and industrial fields [11][12][13][14][15], PV power output is typically intermittent owing to its dependence on various environmental factors, such as solar irradiance, PV module surface temperature, and sky conditions, which result in unstable power production. Therefore, accurate forecasting of PV power output based on this is essential for managing an hourly electricity balance in grid-connected BIPV (Building-Integrated Photovoltaic) systems [16][17][18][19][20][21].…”