Investigation of using photovoltaic system at local residential community level

Abstract

The non-renewable fossil fuels are the foremost resources used to generate electricity and heat energy worldwide. The need to move towards Sustainable Community Renewable Energy solutions is highlighted by the increasing greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the use of fossil fuels. Local peoples could be involved in renewable projects to ensure a local community experiences benefits within relatively short time periods and could eventually contribute a significant amount of electricity into the energy market. In the UK, renewable energy generated on a local community rather than national can be considered as one of the key Solution of the global energy challenges and to establish a secure energy supply system. This paper aims to investigate the possibility of using renewable energy (RE) at community level. The evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of the building integrated photovoltaic roofing system when connected to the utility grid has been taken as an example. Using the current utility rates and the energy consumption data, the payback period of the system is evaluated.