Abstract
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is the largest country in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region in terms of population, geographic area, economy, and construction and utility infrastructure. The rapid growth of the building sector in general and residential buildings in particular is creating huge energy and environmental challenges for the country. To address these problems and reduce its reliance on an oil-based energy infrastructure, the country aims to install 9.5 GW of renewable energy by 2030. Traditionally the emphasis has been on large-scale renewable projects. Globally, the recent success of solar energy has been significantly contributed by the application of photovoltaics (PV) in buildings. This is an area that has been overlooked in KSA. This study investigates the prospects of application of PV in buildings to improve the sustainability standards in the building and energy sectors of the country by considering the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) as a case study. PVsyst and RetScreen software programs have been used to model the application of PV on building rooftops in KFUPM. The study also discusses the concerned policy. It is found that the rooftop application of PV can annually produce 37,746 MWh of electricity, meeting over 16% of the KFUPM’s total energy requirements.
Highlights
The role of renewable energy in meeting global energy needs is becoming ever more important
The study investigates the prospects of the application of PV systems in buildings in Saudi Arabia by taking the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) as a case study
Results indicate that 37,746 MWh of electricity can be annually generated from the installed rooftop PV systems resulting in environmental emission savings of 30,875 metric tons of CO2e
Summary
The role of renewable energy in meeting global energy needs is becoming ever more important. For example, the world’s leading country in solar PV installed capacity, benefits mainly from small-scale systems. Despite having taken initiatives more than three decades ago, the country is yet to see renewable energy making any considerable inroads in its energy and building sectors. Key barriers in this respect include huge public subsidies for fossil fuels, government preferences to large scale and centralized projects, investment risks, lack of administrative experience with renewable technologies, and regulatory issues. The focus of the country far has been on large or industrial scale projects overlooking the application of PV in buildings This is an area that needs attention. The study provides emission analysis with the help of RetScreen software besides discussing policy guidelines to promote PV systems in the Saudi building sector
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