Feasibility of Low Carbon Renewable Energy City Integrated with Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems

Min-Hwi Kim,Dong-Won Lee,Deuk-Won Kim

doi:10.3390/en14217342

Abstract

This study evaluated the energy saving potential of renewable energy generation systems based on integrated solar energy in an urban environment. The solar city concept was implemented using photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal systems. As a case study, the Sejong national pilot smart city in South Korea was selected to evaluate the renewable energy penetration rate. For evaluating the proposed renewable energy systems, the electrical and thermal loads of the smart city were estimated using field measurement data. Then, the renewable energy penetration rate of the city was evaluated. The HomerPro software was used to analyze the PV generation and operating energy consumption of the natural gas (NG) generator with a district heating network. The thermal load-supporting potential of the solar thermal system was estimated using the TRNSYS software. The results showed that the proposed urban integrated renewable energy system could meet over 30% of the renewable energy penetration rate and the levelized cost of energy and total net present cost was 7% lower than the base case system (i.e., NG generator). The proposed system also exhibited 38% less CO2 emissions than the base case system.

Highlights

In recent years, extensive efforts have been made to increase the applicability of various renewable energy systems to cities to respond to climate crisis beyond climate change
To increase the renewable energy penetration rate in cities based on renewable energy systems, the area for installing PV systems needs to be secured on roofs and adequate solar radiation is required [3]
Combinations of photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal (ST) systems, an energy storage system (ESS), thermal energy storage (TES), and a natural gas (NG) generator were considered, and the size of each system was derived through optimization design

Summary

Introduction

Extensive efforts have been made to increase the applicability of various renewable energy systems to cities to respond to climate crisis beyond climate change As part of such efforts, various studies have been conducted on the establishment of “solar cities” based on renewable energy using photovoltaic (PV) systems on roofs in cities [1,2,3]. Taminiau et al [2] presented the concepts of a “savings city” in terms of energy efficiency and a “solar city” based on the installation of PV systems in the city of Daejeon, and analyzed the possibility of a sustainable city They found that a renewable energy penetration rate of 56% per year could be achieved if PV systems were installed on the roofs of all buildings in Daejeon and building efficiency was improved

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Discussion

Conclusion