Highest Internal Rate Of Return Research Articles

Economic-financial analysis of the use of biscuit bran as an energy alternative in diets for confined lambs

The objective of this study was to evaluate the economic and financial viability of replacing corn with biscuit bran (BB) in diets for Morada Nova lambs in feedlot. Twenty lambs confined with initial body weight of 17.00 ± 3.74 kg were used, arranged in four treatments, diet without biscuit bran (BB) and diets containing 15, 30 or 45% of biscuit bran in place of corn in the diet. Data, expenses and revenues of the activity were obtained during the period of January 2020 in the municipality of Sobral, Ceará. The economic and financial evaluation was carried out descriptively, using Excel® spreadsheets. In the scenarios evaluated, feeding, animal acquisition and labor costs were the items that most contributed to production costs. The highest food costs were observed in the system that used 15% of BB, representing about 32.86% of the total costs. The simulation for sheep production provided revenue higher than the production costs in all diets tested, resulting in positive economic indicators. On the other hand, although the system that uses diet without biscuit bran provides positive revenue, net income was the lowest (R$ 12,117.15 year-1). It was observed that all scenarios had a leveling point higher than 5,000 kg of meat year-1. The total productivity of the factors of all treatments evaluated was higher than 1, which indicates that the activity is stable, presenting high internal rates of return. Similarly, profitability rates are attractive, especially for diets containing BB, where the net present value is higher (R$ 362,143.26). Sensitivity analyses showed that even in the most unfavorable situations, such as a 30% reduction in production and market price, indicators are economically viable. The use of BB does not compromise the economic viability of the diet compared to the diet without BB, they present higher profitability, especially at the level of 15% in the diet.

Multi-attribute assessment of a river electromobility concept in the Amazon region

In this study, a water electro-mobility concept has been analyzed in the Amazon using the case study of the native communities in the Yarinacocha district in Peru. Multi-Attribute Tradespace Exploration (MATE) methodology is applied to identify the various stakeholders' objectives, generate the designs, and evaluate them. This methodology captured the intention of assessing not only technical aspects but also environmental and economic sustainability. Six monohull designs for each of the three navigation routes identified, plus an aluminum catamaran, resulted from the combination of the three materials (wooden, fiber reinforced plastic, and aluminum) of canoe-type monohulls with two types of electric propulsion systems: outboard pod propeller and long-tail shaft coupled with permanent magnet brushless DC motors. It was found that the Amazon canoe hulls studied require propulsion units of 3 kW to navigate in calm waters and 10 kW in rivers. The silicon-based solar photovoltaic systems are equipped with lithium iron phosphate storage batteries. Each design is valued according to the project's stakeholders' preferences, guiding the decision-maker to focus on those that offer higher value at a lower expense. Most solar boats on the two long routes had higher internal rates of return than the current design. The best options generate rates of 29.62% versus 11% and 10.79% versus 5.26%. It could be demonstrated that electric propulsion is competitive to fossil fuel-based propulsion for this case study.

Evaluation of potential feedstock for biogas production via anaerobic digestion in Malaysia: kinetic studies and economics analysis

ABSTRACT As the population increases, energy demands continue to rise rapidly. In order to satisfy this increasing energy demand, biogas offers a potential alternative. Biogas is economically viable to be produced through anaerobic digestion (AD) from various biomass feedstocks that are readily available in Malaysia, such as food waste (FW), palm oil mill effluent (POME), garden waste (GW), landfill, sewage sludge (SS) and animal manure. This paper aims to determine the potential feedstocks for biogas production via AD based on their characteristics, methane yield, kinetic studies and economic analysis. POME and FW show the highest methane yield with biogas yields up to 0.50 L/g VS while the lowest is 0.12 L/g VS by landfill leachate. Kinetic study shows that modified Gompertz model fits most of the feedstock with R 2 up to 1 indicating that this model can be used for estimating treatment efficiencies of full-scale reactors and performing scale-up analysis. The economic analysis shows that POME has the shortest payback period (PBP), highest internal rate of return (IRR) and net present value (NPV). However, it has already been well explored, with 93% of biogas plants in Malaysia using POME as feedstock. The FW generation rate in Malaysia is approximately 15,000 tonnes per day, at the same time FW as the second place shows potential to have a PBP of 5.4 years and 13.3% IRR, which is close to the results achieved with POME. This makes FW suitable to be used as the feedstock for biogas production.

Economics of Grid-Tied Solar Photovoltaic Systems Coupled to Heat Pumps: The Case of Northern Climates of the U.S. and Canada

Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology is now a profitable method to decarbonize the grid, but if catastrophic climate change is to be avoided, emissions from transportation and heating must also decarbonize. One approach to renewable heating is leveraging improvements in PV with heat pumps (HPs). To determine the potential for PV+HP systems in northern areas of North America, this study performs numerical simulations and economic analysis using the same loads and climate, but with local electricity and natural gas rates for Sault Ste. Marie, in both Canada and U.S. Ground-mounted, fixed-tilt, grid-tied PV systems are sized to match 100% of electric loads considering cases both with and without air source HPs for residences with natural gas-based heating. For the first time the results show North American residents can profitably install residential PV+HP systems, earning up to 1.9% return in the U.S. and 2.7% in Canada, to provide for all of their electric and heating needs. Returns on PV-only systems are higher, up to 4.3%; however, the PV capacities are less than half. These results suggest northern homeowners have a clear and simple method to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by making an investment that offers a higher internal rate of return than savings accounts, CDs and GICs in both countries. Residential PV and solar-powered heat pumps can be considered 25-year investments in financial security and environmental sustainability.

Upotreba kamatnog metoda pri rangiranju alternativnih investicionih zahvata

Among the methods of assessing the economic justification of investment projects which are based on the discount technique, the method of net present value and the method of internal rate of return have primary importance. In case where there are independent projects, the main rule is that the project will be accepted if its net present value is positive, i.e., if the internal rate of return is higher than the discount rate, that should not be implemented if its net present value is negative, i.e., the internal rate of return less than the discount rate. It usually happens that a project with a higher net present value has a higher internal rate of return, but it is not uncommon for a project with a higher net present value to have a lower internal rate of return and vice versa, that a project with a higher internal rate of return has a lower net present value. If investment projects with such characteristics are mutually competitive, in the sense that accepting one of them means rejecting the other, there is a problem in their ranking, in terms of answering the question which of the alternative projects is better, the one with higher net present value or the one with a higher internal rate of return? Such cases are treated in the literature as conflict situations in ranking. In this paper, we will limit ourselves to the application of one method of their solving, the method of additional interest rates, in one specific type of investment projects that are characterized by one-time investments in zero period and one-time effects that are promising in different time periods.

Technical and Financial Analysis in Biogas Power Plant for a Layer Poultry Farm

A layer poultry farm that produces commercial eggs discharges wastewater from the manure washing process, which is collected in a plastic sheet covered lagoon and used to generate biogas through an anaerobic digestion process. This paper proposes a biogas power plant design for a case study of a 100,000 layers cage farm to meet the power demand and electricity requirement, considering both technical and financial analysis. The potential in biogas production is determined using mathematical models and constraints based on a previous similar research technology. The gas engine and generator converting biogas to electricity are sized based on the collecting data of currently peak power demand, electricity requirement and estimate to the full-scale production of the farm. The initial investment as the major component cost is obtained from the supplier bill of quotations and the annual expense is estimated by the maintenance cost of time of operation leading to achieve the financial parameters. The result shows the range of energy production based on the number of operating cage houses in the farm, supporting 44% of the energy requirement. To maximize the benefit, the power plant is programmed to support all power demand during the daytime, known as the on-peak period which is charged with the highest tariff rate. The financial analysis is recognized by its positive Net Present Value (NPV), the higher Internal Rate of Return (IRR) than expected return rate, and the lower Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) than the electricity cost charged by the utility.

Mission-oriented R&D and growth

ABSTRACT We analyze the dynamic interaction of mission-oriented R&D expenditure stocks with domestic and foreign private and public R&D, total-factor-productivity (TFP), and gross domestic product (GDP) for seven EU countries. We use the vector-error-correction method. Permanent changes on mission-oriented R&D increase total-factor-productivity and GDP. On average across periods and countries, a 1% increase of mission-oriented R&D leads to an additional 0.485% public R&D, 0.705% private R&D, 0.485% for TFP, and 0.56% GDP. We also show years of positive gains, the sums of discounted net present values, and the average yearly gains/GDP ratio. Mission-oriented R&D has high internal rates of return.

Cost-Benefit Analysis and Challenges of Implementing FSC Standards in Rubber Plantations in Southern Thailand

This study examines the cost and benefit (i.e., income) of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) rubber plantations in Thailand. The study attempts to identify the challenges to the implementation of FSC standards in rubber plantations in the country. A total of 60 rubber farmers in two Southern provinces, namely, Songkhla and Rayong, were interviewed through a standardized questionnaire to gather primary data. The study found that small-, medium- and large-sized FSC rubber plantations were worth investing in. All sizes of rubber plantations had similar values of benefit cost ratio (BCR). It was also found that the values of the discount payback period (DPP) of the three forms of FSC rubber plantations were 9-12 years, while the large rubber plantations had the highest internal rate of return (IRR) (19.0%). It implies that the large-size plantations had the highest values. The rubber farmers in the study area reported that they are facing a number of problems and hardships in implementing FSC standards, lacking knowledge and understanding of FSC, especially for preparing documentation. Therefore, the Thai government should take proper policy initiatives to remove all the problems and barriers in implementing FSC standards for the sustainable rubber production in the country.

Assessment of the economic recycling potential of a glycolysis treatment of rigid polyurethane foam waste: A case study from Thailand

This research assessed the economic feasibility of recovering polyol from rigid polyurethane foam (RPUF) waste, collected from dismantled, discarded refrigerators, by a single-phase glycolysis recycling process using domestic crude glycerol (a byproduct of biodiesel production) as a transesterification agent. The study, conducted in Thailand, took into account benefits from the added value of the recovered product, the investment and related operating costs of the process, demand (the need for the recovered product) and supply (the amount of RPUF waste). The results showed that the production of recovered polyol from RPUF waste is economically feasible, with a net present value of 1,113,018 USD, an internal rate of return (IRR) of 22.9%, and a payback period of 4.4 years. Due to the high IRR, project investment should be attractive to both the government and private sector investors. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the economic resilience of the process to uncertainties in key factors, including the prices of the machinery, recovered polyol, crude glycerol and stannous octoate, and the amount of RPUF waste available. The sensitivity analysis showed that the economic feasibility was most sensitive to the price of the recovered polyol, followed by the amount of RPUF waste and the prices of the machinery, crude glycerol and stannous octoate. Based on these results, technological, operational, financial, and regulatory policy recommendations were also presented.

Modeling technology retrofit scenarios for the conversion of condominium into an energy community: An Italian case study

This work aims to investigate what kind of impact retrofit scenarios have on “building energy communities” in view of the European Union climate targets on CO2 emission reduction, energy efficiency, and the share of renewable energy.Data-driven retrofit scenarios have been simulated considering a condominium constituted by eighty-seven units, located in the North-West of Italy. Different technology mixes (including roof-top photovoltaic, air-source heat pump, battery energy storage, and electric vehicles chargers) supplying for the electric and head demands have been simulated. The techno-economic feasibility of each retrofit scenario has been evaluated along with its compliance with the EU climate target by a multi-criteria analysis. The retrofit with roof-top photovoltaic systems always leads to positive environmental and economic indicators. Besides, it also reaches the highest internal rate of return of 18.2%. The air-water heat pump helps in reducing the total primary energy demand of −26% and the CO2 emission of −30%. Nonetheless, it introduces electric load-volatility on the electric grid that appears to be even more challenging than the photovoltaic intermittency. This issue can be conditioned by installing a storage system smoothing the heat pump load-volatility. The charge of electric vehicles within the condominium also has a global positive effect as it increasing the self-consumption up to 9.5%.The multi-criteria analysis shows that the diffusion of condominium energy communities by itself does not guarantee the pursue of the European Union decarbonization roadmap. In fact, if the purpose of condominium energy communities is not well channeled to the citizen, by giving them other forms of incentives besides the economic ones, they might still opt for the economic benefit over the environmental one jeopardizing the potential benefit related to energy communities initiatives.

Energy, exergy, and economic analyses of integration of heliostat solar receiver to gas and air bottom cycles

In this paper, the energy, exergy, and economic analysis of a novel integrated power plant is investigated. The novel power plant is integrated by using the heliostat solar receiver, the heliostat solr reciever is integrated with many types of traditional power plants such as the gas turbine cycle, air-bottoming cycle, and absorption refrigeration system. Also, the integration of the heliostat solar receiver to heat the exhaust air from the compressor to reduce the natural gas consumption within the gas cycle has been investigated. For the proposed configurations, energy, exergy, and economic analysis for Tehran, Iran (35.689°N, 51.5°E) has been conducted. The model has been validated using previously published results of other authors. Since the investigated configurations are innovative and to the best of our knowledge a similar whole system does not exist in the literature, each cycle has been validated separately. Results and comparisons are given for six different combinations: gas cycle, gas cycle with air bottoming cycle, and gas cycle with air bottoming cycle and absorption refrigeration system. The previously mentioned cycles are analyzed again but this time with integrating them with heliostat solr reciever. The comparisons study is conducted in terms of monthly average energy efficiency, monthly average exergy efficiency, annual average energy efficiency, annual average exergy efficiency, net present value, simple payback period, payback period, and internal rate of return. Results show that adding the heliostat solr reciever to the different cycles minimizes the fossil fuel consumption and enhance energy performance very significantly, for example the energy and exergy efficiencies are increased from 44% up to 69%. Regarding some economic indicators such as the internal rate of return parameter, the results show that the highest internal rate of return belongs to the combination of the gas cycle with air bottoming cycle and absorption refrigeration system with the value of 0.48 and the combination of the gas cycle combined with heliostat solar receiver has the lowest value of internal rate of return of 0.16. As a result of the reduction in fuel consumption savings and other economic indicators are achieved in addition to better environment impact. Finally, the integration of heliostat solar receiver in power cycles shows many advantages mainly in hot areas where solar radiation is high.

Assessment of the Cost-Benefits of Climate Change Adaptation Strategies of Cassava-Based Farmers in Southern Nigeria

The study examined the assessment of the cost-benefits of climate change adaptation strategies of cassava-based farmers in Southern Nigeria. About 300 cassava-based farmers were selected using simple random sampling. Primary data were obtained through administration of questionnaire, interview schedule and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, Net Return model and Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA). The findings of this study revealed that more than 55% of the cassava crop farmers indicated depletion of the ozone layer as the most cause of climate change in the area. The net returns of the cassava production were estimated at ₦215,240.86 ($614.97) and the gross marginal returns of ₦220,078.86 ($628.80) respectively. This indicates that cassava production using the adaptation strategies is profitable. Conservational agriculture recorded the highest internal rate of return of 68% over other adaptation strategies with Net Present Value of E399.53. The factor analysis revealed the major constraints in using climate change adaptation strategies as high cost of labor, inadequate information on climate change issues, high cost and scarcity of inputs, insecurity, poor extension services and low response from government among others. Farmers should be encouraged to practice conservation techniques as the cost-effective and efficient climate change adaptation strategies in the study area. Government support in bridging the gap between climate change and crop farmers’ adaptation strategies and farm inputs provisions at a subsidized rate were recommended.

Japan’s Productivity and GDP Growth: The Role of Private, Public and Foreign R&D 1967–2017

We analyze the dynamic interaction of Japan’s total factor productivity, gross domestic product (GDP) domestic and foreign private and public research and development (R&D) in vector-error-correction models (VECMs) for Japan with data from 1963–2017. Extensive testing leads to favoring a model with five cointegrating equations for the six variables. Analysis of effects of permanent policy changes shows that (i) additional public R&D encourages private R&D and total factor productivity (TFP), and has higher internal rates of return than private R&D changes and therefore could speed up Japan’s growth; (ii) public R&D changes have a statistically significant positive permanent effect on foreign private R&D stocks and a transitional effect on foreign public R&D stocks; (iii) private R&D changes have a statistically significant positive permanent effect on foreign public R&D stocks and a transitional effect on foreign private R&D stocks; (iv) after a temporary GDP change, public R&D is counter-cyclical in the short and medium run and private R&D is pro-cyclical. Empirical results are related to the parameters of a VES (variable elasticity of substitution) function for TFP production.

Operational Assessment of Public Transport: A Case of Kathmandu, Nepal

In absence of the railway at Kathmandu, Nepal, public transport effectiveness needs to be assessed. The paper aims to assess the operational performance of public transportation in Kalanki-Kalimati-Tripureshwor-Bhotahity forward 6700 m and backward 6200 m section of Kathmandu. Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for performance assessment were listed from the literature review and finalized through departmental expert consultation based on average mean score analysis of availability, cost of collection, quality and necessity of the data. Based on the finalized 4 KPI along with 29 micro KPI, performance of SajhaYatayat, bus and microbus were compared categorizing under economical, service, safety and people perception by collecting data through field survey. The economic analysis reveals that microbus has the highest internal rate of return and benefit cost ratio highest as 28.55% and 1.35 respectively while the bus has the highest revenue per kilometer and cost per kilometer as 104.94 and 79.012 respectively. Service indicators analysis reveals that SajhaYatayat has the highest travel time ratio and running time as 1425sec and 1.66, microbus has the highest journey time as 1555.86 sec, the bus has the highest running speed, journey speed and running index as 17.39 kph, 16.42 kph and 0.68 while traveling from Kalanki to Bhotahity respectively. The average passenger waiting index is 0.88. The affordability index of microbus is 4.47% respectively. Bus punctuality of SajhaYatayat is non-frequent but bus and microbus are Frequent. According to a schedule questionnaire survey with 94 respondents, the result of people perception indicators reveals that 21.27% of respondents are not satisfied with SajhaYatayat, bus and microbus. It is concluded that SajhaYatayat is performing better among three-selected public transport in the study route i.e. SajhaYatayat, bus and microbus are performing in decreasing order.

Operational Assessment of Public Transport: A Case of Kathmandu, Nepal

In absence of the railway at Kathmandu, Nepal, public transport effectiveness needs to be assessed. The paper aims to assess the operational performance of public transportation in Kalanki-Kalimati-Tripureshwor-Bhotahity forward 6700 m and backward 6200 m section of Kathmandu. Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for performance assessment were listed from the literature review and finalized through departmental expert consultation based on average mean score analysis of availability, cost of collection, quality and necessity of the data. Based on the finalized 4 KPI along with 29 micro KPI, performance of SajhaYatayat, bus and microbus were compared categorizing under economical, service, safety and people perception by collecting data through field survey. The economic analysis reveals that microbus has the highest internal rate of return and benefit cost ratio highest as 28.55% and 1.35 respectively while the bus has the highest revenue per kilometer and cost per kilometer as 104.94 and 79.012 respectively. Service indicators analysis reveals that SajhaYatayat has the highest travel time ratio and running time as 1425sec and 1.66, microbus has the highest journey time as 1555.86 sec, the bus has the highest running speed, journey speed and running index as 17.39 kph, 16.42 kph and 0.68 while traveling from Kalanki to Bhotahity respectively. The average passenger waiting index is 0.88. The affordability index of microbus is 4.47% respectively. Bus punctuality of SajhaYatayat is non-frequent but bus and microbus are Frequent. According to a schedule questionnaire survey with 94 respondents, the result of people perception indicators reveals that 21.27% of respondents are not satisfied with SajhaYatayat, bus and microbus. It is concluded that SajhaYatayat is performing better among three-selected public transport in the study route i.e. SajhaYatayat, bus and microbus are performing in decreasing order.

Experimental Investigation on Energy Saving Potential in AHU of an Air-Conditioning System with BLDC Fan

Our current energy source is mainly based on fossil fuel which is depleting continuously day by day so all the efforts should be made to reduce the energy consumption with the help of different energy saving initiatives in all levels. As industries use significant part of the total energy consumption of the world, it is the main area to be studied for reduction in energy consumption. In this paper, a study is conducted on a conventional air-conditioning system of 300 ton of refrigeration capacity in a steel plant located in Jajpur, Odisha, India. The energy consumption on different elements of the air-conditioning system has been studied to get an idea of quantum of energy consumed in different sections. It is found that in an air-conditioning system, air handling units (AHUs) consume 24.5% of energy, whereas chiller consumes around 52.6% and others together consume 22.9%. Further energy consumption in AHU has been studied in detail for different drive systems to evaluate the most energy-efficient AHU system. Three numbers of AHU were studied with similar rated capacity of 40,000 m3/h and 15 kW fans. The first AHU is conventional in design having V-belt drive, second AHU has direct-coupled motor with variable frequency drive (VFD) motor and third AHU has brushless direct-current (BLDC) motor direct coupled with the fan. It is found that the conventional AHU system consumes 12.4 kW load at 34,702 m3/h, direct-coupled motor with VFD consumes 9.4 kW load at 34,935 m3/h and BLDC motor-driven AHU consumes 8.4 kW load at 34,702 m3/h. Hence, it is concluded that the BLDC motor-driven AHUs are most energy efficient compared to others. It is also observed that the highest internal rate of return (IRR) is coming in BLDC motor-driven system which is around 60% and noise level is also the lowest in BLDC fan that is 60 dB and the highest in conventional V-belt-driven AHU system that is 70 dB. Similar results are also found in carbon footprint study for 1 year (240 days) of operation of the AHU fan that is the lowest in BLDC motor-driven fan and the estimated value is 60.71 tons CO2 per year, whereas the highest carbon footprint is estimated in conventional V-belt-driven AHU that is 41.13 tons CO2 per year. Hence, we can conclude that by using an efficient drive system of an AHU like BLDC motor-driven fan, we can save energy as well as reduce the impact on our environment.

Comparative Assessment of Thermo-Syngas Fermentative and Liquefaction Technologies as Waste Plastics Repurposing Strategies

The present study comparatively investigates the potential of waste plastic utilization as a feedstock for the production of liquid fuels to satisfy the rising liquid fuel demands of the transportation industry while simultaneously resolving the global plastic waste pollution challenge. For the first time, therefore, conceptual models simulating the production of transportation fuels of ethanol and gasoline from waste plastics via the technologies of thermo-syngas fermentation and hydrothermal liquefaction were assessed using classic technoeconomic assessment methods. The conceptual models were developed based on existing experimental data as obtained from the literature and simulated using ASPEN Plus as the preferred process simulation tool. This study demonstrated the technical viability of both conversion pathways with the hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of waste plastics for gasoline production shown to constitute a more economically preferable pathway. This was because the HTL of waste plastics presented a higher internal rate of return (IRR) value and a lower unit processing cost of 51.3% and USD 0.38 per kg compared to the thermo-syngas fermentation pathway that presented an IRR value and a unit processing cost value of 22.2% and USD 0.42 per kg, respectively. Payback periods of 5 years and 2 years were also determined as vital to recoup initial capital invested in the thermo-syngas fermentation project and the HTL project, respectively. Therefore, this study provides a basis for further work regarding waste plastic management strategies while offering a useful guide for policy makers in determining the most cost-effective way to utilize waste plastic and thus promote favorable environmental outcomes.

Economic evaluation from beef cattle production industry with intensification in Brazil's tropical pastures.

This study aimed to evaluate different scenarios (year, supplementation level) about economic results of beef cattle production during rearing and finishing phase in Brazilian's tropical pastures. Four scenarios were evaluated in combination with fourteen supplements, and it was originated from some research developed inside Forage Crops and Grasslands section from São Paulo State University among years 2011 and 2014. The economic evaluation was analyzed by operating cost, total operational costs, gross revenue, operating profit, and financial net income. Besides profitability, internal rate of return (IRR), benefit/cost ratio (B:C), and simple payback period (SPP) were calculated too. During rearing phase, the best result was observed for scenario 2 (2012), supplement 3.2 (mineral mix) with values of 11 cycles, 26.3%, 9.30%, and 0.39 for SPP, profitability, IRR, and B:C ratio, respectively. Already to finishing phase, the best scenario was 3 (2013), supplement 10 (multiple supplement with supplementation level equal 1.0% body weight), which obtained 4 cycles, 68.7%, 27.00%, and 2.34 for the same variables above mentioned. Results were consistent being that higher IRR and profitability occurred when using low supplementation level. Hence, the economic responses from different scenarios (years and supplements) can alter the final livestock farm financial statement.

Profitability of Various Energy Supply Systems in Light of Their Different Energy Prices and Climate Conditions

The majority of the single-family houses in Sweden are affected by deteriorations in building envelopes as well as heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. These dwellings are, therefore, in need of extensive renovation, which provides an excellent opportunity to install renewable energy supply systems to reduce the total energy consumption. The high investment costs of the renewable energy supply systems were previously distinguished as the main barrier in the installation of these systems in Sweden. House-owners should, therefore, compare the profitability of the energy supply systems and select the one, which will allow them to reduce their operational costs. This study analyses the profitability of a ground source heat pump, photovoltaic solar panels and an integrated ground source heat pump with a photovoltaic system, as three energy supply systems for a single-family house in Sweden. The profitability of the supply systems was analysed by calculating the payback period (PBP) and internal rate of return (IRR) for these systems. Three different energy prices, three different interest rates, and two different lifespans were considered when calculating the IRR and PBP. In addition, the profitability of the supply systems was analysed for four Swedish climate zones. The analyses of results show that the ground source heat pump system was the most profitable energy supply system since it provided a short PBP and high IRR in all climate zones when compared with the other energy supply systems. Additionally, results show that increasing the energy price improved the profitability of the supply systems in all climate zones.

Cooling Effect on the Floating Solar PV: Performance and Economic Analysis on the Case of West Java Province in Indonesia

Solar photovoltaic technology is one of the most well established new and renewable energy technologies. Many researchers have undertaken wide research and development in this sector, including material and system design. To protect the exhaustion of global terrestrial land and to avoid the occupation of extensive farmlands, solar photovoltaic (PV) developers, as well as policymakers, have pursued various solutions, including the development of floating solar PV (FPV). This study consists of a technological and economic perspective to analyze the floating solar PV system. The authors utilize remote sensing results to predict FPV efficiency and measure energy yield from the system while also developing an economics analysis on an FPV project by comparison with ground-based solar PV (GPV). The results from the remote sensing method found that the lake has a cooler temperature than the ground, with an annual difference of around 8 °C. FPV efficiency was also shown to be around 0.61% higher than GPV in terms of the prediction. FPV economic parameter comparison also resulted in 3.37 cents/kWh lower levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), and 6.08% higher internal rate of return (IRR) compared to GPV in the base scenario.