Increasing the self-sufficiency of a university campus by expanding the PV capacity while minimizing the energy cost

Microgrids, which promote the production and consumption of renewable energy on site, are a relevant solution to reduce carbon emissions and the price of energy for end users. However, converting an existing building stock into a microgrid powered mainly by renewable energy requires finding a techni...

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Main Authors: Randrianantenaina Tina Arizo, Le Gal La Salle Josselin, Spataru Sergiu Viorel, David Mathieu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: EDP Sciences 2025-01-01
Series:EPJ Photovoltaics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.epj-pv.org/articles/epjpv/full_html/2025/01/pv20240069/pv20240069.html
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author Randrianantenaina Tina Arizo
Le Gal La Salle Josselin
Spataru Sergiu Viorel
David Mathieu
author_facet Randrianantenaina Tina Arizo
Le Gal La Salle Josselin
Spataru Sergiu Viorel
David Mathieu
author_sort Randrianantenaina Tina Arizo
collection DOAJ
description Microgrids, which promote the production and consumption of renewable energy on site, are a relevant solution to reduce carbon emissions and the price of energy for end users. However, converting an existing building stock into a microgrid powered mainly by renewable energy requires finding a technical and economic optimum while taking into account strong constraints. This work proposes a methodology to achieve this objective on an existing university campus located in La Reunion, a French island in the Indian Ocean. The campus already has three photovoltaic (PV) systems and high-quality measurement data of weather, loads and energy production. The goal of the work is to find an optimal rooftop PV capacity that maximizes campus self-sufficiency while keeping energy price affordable for users. The results do not highlight a unique combination of roofs as a solution to the optimization problem. However, the analysis of possible combinations gives clear rules for defining the total photovoltaic capacity to be installed and selecting the most suitable roofs.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2105-0716
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher EDP Sciences
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series EPJ Photovoltaics
spelling doaj-art-c95433e18d414413aee7d4bb834bf9b42025-01-16T11:24:48ZengEDP SciencesEPJ Photovoltaics2105-07162025-01-0116710.1051/epjpv/2024048pv20240069Increasing the self-sufficiency of a university campus by expanding the PV capacity while minimizing the energy costRandrianantenaina Tina Arizo0Le Gal La Salle Josselin1Spataru Sergiu Viorel2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8112-2779David Mathieu3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7382-1294University of La Reunion − PIMENT LaboratoryUniversity of La Reunion − PIMENT LaboratoryDepartment of Electrical and Photonics Engineering, Technical University of DenmarkUniversity of La Reunion − PIMENT LaboratoryMicrogrids, which promote the production and consumption of renewable energy on site, are a relevant solution to reduce carbon emissions and the price of energy for end users. However, converting an existing building stock into a microgrid powered mainly by renewable energy requires finding a technical and economic optimum while taking into account strong constraints. This work proposes a methodology to achieve this objective on an existing university campus located in La Reunion, a French island in the Indian Ocean. The campus already has three photovoltaic (PV) systems and high-quality measurement data of weather, loads and energy production. The goal of the work is to find an optimal rooftop PV capacity that maximizes campus self-sufficiency while keeping energy price affordable for users. The results do not highlight a unique combination of roofs as a solution to the optimization problem. However, the analysis of possible combinations gives clear rules for defining the total photovoltaic capacity to be installed and selecting the most suitable roofs.https://www.epj-pv.org/articles/epjpv/full_html/2025/01/pv20240069/pv20240069.htmlmicrogridself-sufficiencycost of energyoptimizationpv capacity expansionpv system modelling
spellingShingle Randrianantenaina Tina Arizo
Le Gal La Salle Josselin
Spataru Sergiu Viorel
David Mathieu
Increasing the self-sufficiency of a university campus by expanding the PV capacity while minimizing the energy cost
EPJ Photovoltaics
microgrid
self-sufficiency
cost of energy
optimization
pv capacity expansion
pv system modelling
title Increasing the self-sufficiency of a university campus by expanding the PV capacity while minimizing the energy cost
title_full Increasing the self-sufficiency of a university campus by expanding the PV capacity while minimizing the energy cost
title_fullStr Increasing the self-sufficiency of a university campus by expanding the PV capacity while minimizing the energy cost
title_full_unstemmed Increasing the self-sufficiency of a university campus by expanding the PV capacity while minimizing the energy cost
title_short Increasing the self-sufficiency of a university campus by expanding the PV capacity while minimizing the energy cost
title_sort increasing the self sufficiency of a university campus by expanding the pv capacity while minimizing the energy cost
topic microgrid
self-sufficiency
cost of energy
optimization
pv capacity expansion
pv system modelling
url https://www.epj-pv.org/articles/epjpv/full_html/2025/01/pv20240069/pv20240069.html
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