TY - JOUR
T1 - An economically feasible optimization of photovoltaic provision using real electricity demand
T2 - A case study in New York city
AU - Zhu, Rui
AU - Wong, Man Sing
AU - Kwan, Mei Po
AU - Chen, Min
AU - Santi, Paolo
AU - Ratti, Carlo
N1 - Funding Information:
Rui Zhu and Man Sing Wong thank the funding support from the Strategic Hiring Scheme (Grant No. P0036221 ) at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University , and the General Research Fund (Grant No. 15602619 and 15603920 ). Mei-Po Kwan thanks the funding support from the General Research Fund (Grant No. 14605920 and 14611621 ), the Collaborative Research Fund (Grant no. C4023-20GF ), and the Research Committee on Research Sustainability of Major Research Grants Council Funding Schemes of the Chinese University of Hong Kong .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
PY - 2022/3
Y1 - 2022/3
N2 - Solar farming has been experiencing explosive development in recent years. However, developing solar farming in urban areas is challenged by the heterogeneous distribution of solar irradiation in spatial and degradation of photovoltaic (PV) efficiency that make the economic performance uncertain. To tackle this problem, this study develops a spatio-temporal analytic model and a techno-economic assessment model to optimize PV provision to ensure that a PV system can meet the electricity demand and obtain reasonable profit simultaneously. Specifically, based on the estimation of solar potential on three-dimensional urban envelopes, the study determines PV favorable locations that are quantitatively large and spatially concentrated. Then, PV capacities in two comparative architectures, i.e., self-reliance relying on own building surfaces and external-support seeking supports from external rooftops, are planned to meet real electricity demand. Furthermore, the PV capacity is optimized, constrained by a constant electricity rate without Feed-in Tariff, a decreasing PV efficiency, and an increasing cost for maintenance. A case study in New York City suggests that the optimized PV installation can significantly offset household electricity consumption. In addition, the estimated net profit is significant even in rigorous conditions, which is inspiring for promoting distributed solar harvesting and competing with the local electricity market.
AB - Solar farming has been experiencing explosive development in recent years. However, developing solar farming in urban areas is challenged by the heterogeneous distribution of solar irradiation in spatial and degradation of photovoltaic (PV) efficiency that make the economic performance uncertain. To tackle this problem, this study develops a spatio-temporal analytic model and a techno-economic assessment model to optimize PV provision to ensure that a PV system can meet the electricity demand and obtain reasonable profit simultaneously. Specifically, based on the estimation of solar potential on three-dimensional urban envelopes, the study determines PV favorable locations that are quantitatively large and spatially concentrated. Then, PV capacities in two comparative architectures, i.e., self-reliance relying on own building surfaces and external-support seeking supports from external rooftops, are planned to meet real electricity demand. Furthermore, the PV capacity is optimized, constrained by a constant electricity rate without Feed-in Tariff, a decreasing PV efficiency, and an increasing cost for maintenance. A case study in New York City suggests that the optimized PV installation can significantly offset household electricity consumption. In addition, the estimated net profit is significant even in rigorous conditions, which is inspiring for promoting distributed solar harvesting and competing with the local electricity market.
KW - Building integrated photovoltaic
KW - Geographical information science
KW - Life cycle economic assessment
KW - Solar energy
KW - Solar PV planning
KW - Techno-economic assessment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85122493030&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.scs.2021.103614
DO - 10.1016/j.scs.2021.103614
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85122493030
SN - 2210-6707
VL - 78
JO - Sustainable Cities and Society
JF - Sustainable Cities and Society
M1 - 103614
ER -
