Techno-Economic And Environmental Analysis Of A Solar Pv Standalone System For Power Supply In Mechanical Engineering Department

ABSTRACT

Techno-econornic analysis of a PV Standalone System was carried out using Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources (HOMER), using Mechanical Engineering Department of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU) as a case study, to proffer solution to the daily power outages lasting several hours in the department and college. In order to achieve this objective, data was obtained on daily energy consumption of Mechanical Engineering Department of MOUAU, annual average of solar radiation per day of Umudike for a period of 5 years from metrological/statistics Unit, National Root Crop Research Institute (NRCRI) and optimized using HOMER. The optimization result indicates that for the PV Standalone System to meet the energy demand of Mechanical Engineering Department of MOUAU a solar panel of 69.2kW should be installed, with an initial capital cost of $314,061. The PV Standalone System is a good source of continuous power generation, as it reduces combustion of fossil fuels and the consequent carbon dioxide CO2 emission which is the main cause of greenhouse-effect and global warming.