Abstract
To maximize the life-cycle economic and environmental performance of the rooftop photovoltaic (PV) system in real projects, it is necessary to consider several factors such as regional climate factors (i.e., geographical and meteorological factors) and building characteristics (i.e., on-site installation factors, rooftop area limit, and budget limit). Towards this end, this study aimed to develop the life-cycle economic and environmental assessment model for establishing the optimal implementation strategy of the rooftop PV system. The robustness and reliability of the developed model were evaluated in terms of two perspectives: (i) for the effectiveness of the optimal solution, the optimization results were generated by considering the regional climate factors and building characteristics. Namely, the results for SIR25 (saving to investment ratio at year 25), which was set at the optimization goal, were 2.540 (Busan, southern part of South Korea), 2.485 (Daejeon, central part of South Korea), and 2.266 (Seoul, northern part of South Korea), respectively; and (ii) for the efficient computation time, the time required for determining the optimal solution was only 27 seconds. The developed model can be used to easily and accurately assess the life-cycle economic and environmental performance of the rooftop PV system in the early design phase.
Highlights
The rapid increase in the use of fossil fuels caused the energy depletion and environmental pollution
This study was conducted in three steps: (i) step 1: definition of the impact factors of the rooftop PV system through an extensive literature review and interviews with experts in the field of the PV system; (ii) step 2: sensitivity analysis on the impact factors of the rooftop PV system in terms of two aspects; and (iii) step 3: development of the life-cycle economic and environmental assessment model for the rooftop PV system by considering various processes and the associated equations using a Microsoft-Excel-based VBA (refer to Supporting Information (SI) Figure S1)
The results of the annual electricity generation (AEG)/unit are as follows: (i) when the slope of the installed panel (SoP) was from 0° to 35°, the AEG/unit tended to increase; but (ii) when the SoP was from 35° to 90°, the AEG/unit tended to decrease
Summary
The rapid increase in the use of fossil fuels caused the energy depletion and environmental pollution. Despite the various efforts for carbon emissions reduction around the world, global energy consumption continues to rise. World primary energy consumption in 2010 was increased by 5.6%, the highest rate since 1973. Primary energy consumption of OECD countries has soared to 3.5%, the highest rate since 1984, and that of non-OECD countries has doubled to 7.5% (DOS 2010; EEA 2011; Hong et al 2014a; IPCC 2007; UN 1998). As of 2009, electricity generation using renewable energy was about 18% of global electricity generation (IEA 2008a; JRC 2011). According to a press release, renewable energy power plants accounted for more than 50% of newly installed power plants in the EU and the U.S (IEA 2008b; MEI 2011)
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