A Review of PV System Performance and Life-Cycle Costs for the SunSmart Schools Program

Solar Energy ◽  
2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Lynn ◽  
Jennifer Szaro ◽  
William Wilson ◽  
Michael Healey
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
Performance Ratio ◽  
Life Cycle Costs ◽  
Pv System ◽  
Solar Systems ◽  
Pv Systems ◽  
Florida Department ◽  
Energy Center ◽  
One Year

In January of 2003, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection/Florida Energy Office (DEP/FEO) allocated $600,000 in hardware funds toward the installation of photovoltaic (PV) solar systems on Florida schools. As a result of this program, grid-connected PV systems less than six kilowatts in size were installed on 29 schools in the State of Florida. The Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) has monitored these systems for approximately one year of operation. The performance of 28 of these systems was analyzed using standard performance parameters such as the performance ratio, PV array efficiency, inverter efficiency, and PV system efficiency. In addition, a life-cycle cost analysis was conducted using new cost data values and updated market assumptions. These data will serve as a benchmark to compare against future systems with respect to performance vs. installed system cost.

An Alternative Approach to PV System Life Cycle Cost Analysis

Solar Energy ◽  
2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Larsen ◽  
Jennifer Szaro ◽  
William Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Population Sample ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Life Cycle Costs ◽  
Pv System ◽  
Pv Systems ◽  
The Impact

This analysis uses actual installed system costs from available data to better assess and understand the real installed and life cycle costs for small-scale photovoltaic (PV) installations. Most PV systems are sold on the basis of first cost, but in addition to these first costs, system owners must consider operation and maintenance (O&M) costs and down time, as well as energy savings [1]. The challenge in developing realistic life cycle costs is that most databases have only new data available, and only one database — that maintained by the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) — contains performance information along with cost and maintenance data. The goals of this effort are to: 1. Characterize the actual life cycle costs (LCC) of PV systems installed in Florida and tracked since 1998. 2. Develop a benchmark of PV LCC that will aid in prioritizing cost improvement steps and feed into the U.S. Department of Energy and its subcontractors’ efforts to develop a baseline for grid-connected small residential and larger commercial PV system costs. 3. Develop an easy to use and modify LCC model that allows sensitivity analysis and input of new data as it becomes available. The PV system LCC model developed and used here is based on statistical methods, which provide us with a range of expected outcomes. The Monte Carlo technique allows the use of repeated simulation iterations to mimic a population sample. For inputs, the model relies largely on data from FSEC’s performance and maintenance databases, and where appropriate simplifying assumptions are explained. Beyond establishing an LCC baseline, this project considers the sensitivity of the total LCC to various inputs and thereby provides guidance on the question of where to put valuable resources to substantially reduce PV system costs. Further discussion is offered concerning the additional value of this model in determining the impact of various methods of PV system performance tracking.

scholarly journals Expandable Houses: An Explorative Life Cycle Cost Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6974
Author(s):  
Charlotte Cambier ◽  
Waldo Galle ◽  
Niels De De Temmerman
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
Lower Cost ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Life Cycle Costs ◽  
Life Cycle Cost Analysis ◽  
Specific Design ◽  
Dynamic Perspective ◽  
Housing Needs

In addition to the environmental burden of its construction and demolition activities, the Flemish housing market faces a structural affordability challenge. As one possible answer, this research explores the potential of so-called expandable houses, being built increasingly often. Through specific design choices that enable the disassembly and future reuse of individual components and so align with the idea of a circular economy, expandable houses promise to provide ever-changing homes with a smaller impact on the environment and at a lower cost for clients. In this paper, an expandable house suitable for various housing needs is conceived through a scenario-based research-by-design approach and compared to a reference house for Flanders. Subsequently, for both houses the life cycle costs are calculated and compared. The results of this exploration support the proposition that designing expandable houses can be a catalyst for sustainable, circular housing development and that households could benefit from its social, economic and ecological qualities. It requires, however, a dynamic perspective on evaluating their life-cycle impact.

scholarly journals Estimation of Solar Irradiation on Inclined Surface Based on Web Databases

2014 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustaw Mazurek
Keyword(s):  
Solar Irradiation ◽  
Pv System ◽  
Solar Systems ◽  
Pv Systems ◽  
Pv Modules ◽  
Tilted Plane ◽  
Annual Scale ◽  
Inclined Surface ◽  
Long Operation ◽  
Good Agreement

Abstract Estimation of Global Tilted Irradiation (GTI) is a key to performance assessment of typical solar systems since they usually employ tilted photovoltaic (PV) modules or collectors. Numerous solar radiation databases can deliver irradiation values both on horizontal and tilted plane, however they are validated mostly with horizontal-plane ground measurements. In this paper we have compared GTI estimates retrieved from five Internet databases with results of measurements at two PV systems located in Poland. Our work shows that in spite of good agreement in annual scale, there is a tendency to underestimate GTI in summer and overestimate in winter, when PV modules can receive less than a half of expected irradiation. The latter issue affects sizing of PV system components and implies a correction needed to achieve all-year long operation.

scholarly journals Least Cost Analysis of Energy Efficiency Upgrades for Ontario Using Trnsys

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amir Fereidouni Kondri
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Cost Analysis ◽  
Energy Efficient ◽  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
Net Present Value ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Life Cycle Costs ◽  
Residential Housing ◽  
Domestic Hot Water

This report presents the methodology for determining least cost energy efficient upgrade solutions in new residential housing using brute force sequential search (BFSS) method for integration into the reference house to reduce energy consumption while minimizing the net present value (NPV) of life cycle costs. The results showed that, based on the life cycle cost analysis of 30 years, the optimal upgrades resulted in the average of 19.25% (case 1), 31% (case 2a), and 21% (case 2b) reduction in annual energy consumption. Economic conditions affect the sequencing of the upgrades. In this respect the preferred upgrades to be performed in order are; domestic hot water heating, above grade wall insulation, cooling systems, ceiling insulation, floor insulation, heat recovery ventilator, basement slab insulation and below grade wall insulation. When the gas commodity pricing becomes high, the more energy efficient upgrades for domestic hot water (DHW) get selected at a cost premium.

Performance Evaluation of Seismic Force–Resisting Systems for Low-Rise Steel Buildings in Canada

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 1969-1990 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Y. Yang ◽  
M. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
Seismic Damage ◽  
Maintenance Cost ◽  
Life Cycle Costs ◽  
Finite Element Models ◽  
Steel Buildings ◽  
Material Usage ◽  
Seismic Force ◽  
Seismic System

Steel is one of the most popular seismic force–resisting systems (SFRS) in use worldwide. In Canada, several SFRS have been prequalified for use in the national and provincial building codes. The design of each SFRS has been covered comprehensively in literature. However, no guidance has been provided in selecting the optimum system for a project. In this paper, a prototype building located in Vancouver, Canada, was designed nine times to utilize each of the prequalified SFRS. Detailed seismic hazard and finite element models were developed for each system. The performance in terms of initial construction and life-cycle cost was used to rank each SFRS. The result of this analysis shows that the eccentrically braced configuration has the lowest material usage and life cycle maintenance cost; it is therefore the most economic system in this study. The presented methodology is transparent and can be easily adopted by engineers to select the most economic seismic system for projects with different configurations and geometries than those given in this research. Furthermore, this system introduces a metric with which to estimate the life-cycle costs of a structure taking into account seismic damage over the service life.

The Influence of Engine Characteristics on Patrol Aircraft Life Cycle Cost Optimization

1982 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Schuetz
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Cost Optimization ◽  
Life Cycle Costs ◽  
Design Constraints ◽  
Performance Requirements ◽  
Aircraft Performance ◽  
Antisubmarine Warfare ◽  
Flight Profile

A conceptual design study has been conducted for an all-new, land-based patrol aircraft for the U.S. Navy. The selected propulsion system was a conceptual high-speed turboprop. An antisubmarine warfare mission was chosen for the design flight profile. Probable peacetime utilization was postulated so that the engine duty cycle could be estimated. Aircraft designs were optimized for minimum takeoff gross weight (TOGW) and for minimum life cycle cost (LCC). It was shown that the aircraft performance requirements and design constraints bound the optimization process so tightly that the same point design is obtained for both TOGW and LCC criteria. The contribution of the engine costs to the overall life cycle costs was examined. The sensitivity of the aircraft optimization to the engine characteristics — specific fuel consumption (SFC), length, diameter, and cost — was analyzed. It was determined that SFC is the most significant engine characteristic.

scholarly journals Optimal Sizing of Standalone Photovoltaic System Using Improved Performance Model and Optimization Algorithm

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 2233
Author(s):  
Tamer Khatib ◽  
Dhiaa Halboot Muhsen
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
Optimal Solution ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Performance Model ◽  
Photovoltaic System ◽  
Optimal Solutions ◽  
Pv System ◽  
Optimal Sizing ◽  
Pv Systems ◽  
Improved Performance

A standalone photovoltaic system mainly consists of photovoltaic panels and battery bank. The use of such systems is restricted mainly due to their high initial costs. This problem is alleviated by optimal sizing as it results in reliable and cost-effective systems. However, optimal sizing is a complex task. Artificial intelligence (AI) has been shown to be effective in PV system sizing. This paper presents an AI-based standalone PV system sizing method. Differential evolution multi-objective optimization is used to find the optimal balance between system’s reliability and cost. Two objective functions are minimized, the loss of load probability and the life cycle cost. A numerical algorithm is used as a benchmark for the proposed method’s speed and accuracy. Results indicate that the AI algorithm can be successfully used in standalone PV systems sizing. The proposed method was roughly 27 times faster than the numerical method. Due to AI algorithm’s random nature, the proposed method resulted in the exact optimal solution in 6 out of 12 runs. Near-optimal solutions were found in the other six runs. Nevertheless, the nearly optimal solutions did not introduce major departure from optimal system performance, indicating that the results of the proposed method are practically optimal at worst.

A Life Cycle Cost Analysis Approach for Selection of a Typical Heavy Usage Multistage Centrifugal Pump

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laxman Y. Waghmode ◽  
Ravindra S. Birajdar ◽  
Shridhar G. Joshi
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Cost Analysis ◽  
Centrifugal Pump ◽  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
Lifetime Cost ◽  
Maintenance Cost ◽  
Life Cycle Costs ◽  
Life Cycle Cost Analysis ◽  
Initial Cost ◽  
Multistage Centrifugal Pump

It is well known that the pumps are the largest consumers of industrial motor energy and account for more than 25% of electricity consumption. The life cycle cost of a pump is the total lifetime cost associated with procurement, installation, operation, maintenance and its disposal. For majority of heavy usage pumps, the lifetime energy and/or maintenance cost will dominate the life cycle costs. Hence a greater understanding of all the cost components making up the total life cycle costs should provide an opportunity to achieve a substantial savings in energy and maintenance costs. This will further enable optimizing pumping system efficiency and improving pump and system reliability. Therefore in this context, the life cycle cost analysis of heavy usage pumps is quite important. This paper focuses on an application of a methodology of determining the life cycle cost of a typical heavy usage multistage centrifugal pump. In this case, all the cost components associated with the pump-set have been determined and classified under different categories. The data with regard to initial investment costs, operation costs, maintenance and repair costs and disposal costs for the pump considered for this case study was collected from the concerned pump manufacturer along with the unit cost of each component, quantity used and their weights. By applying the principles of reliability and maintainability engineering and using the data obtained from the design, manufacturing and maintenance departments, the component-wise values of MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) and MTTR (Mean Time To Repair) were estimated. The results of the life cycle cost analysis of the specimen pump were compared with the life cycle costs of similar pumps reported in the literature. From this comparison of results, it can be concluded that, the initial cost of the pump is the only a fraction of the total life cycle cost. The operating cost of the pump dominates the life cycle costs especially in case of heavy usage pumps. The maintenance cost varies approximately from 0.6 to 2.5 times the initial cost of the pump. The life cycle cost of the pump varies approximately from 12 to 33 times the initial cost of the pump. The operation and maintenance cost is almost 92 to 97 per cent of the life cycle cost. The detailed analysis carried out in this paper is expected to provide guidelines to the pump manufactures/practicing engineers in selecting a heavy usage multistage centrifugal pump based on the total lifetime cost rather than only on initial price.

A Method of Evaluating Life Cycle Costs of Industrial Gas Turbines

1989 ◽  
Vol 111 (4) ◽  
pp. 637-641
Author(s):  
R. B. Spector
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
Life Cycle Analysis ◽  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
Life Cycle Costs ◽  
Initial Cost ◽  
Relative Value ◽  
Industrial Gas Turbines ◽  
Combined Cycles ◽  
New Criterion

When aeroderivative gas turbines were first introduced into industrial service, the prime criterion for assessing the “relative value” of equipment was derived by dividing the initial (or capital) cost of the equipment by the number of kilowatts produced. The use of “dollars per kilowatt” as an assessment parameter emanated from the utility sector and is still valid providing that the turbomachinery units under consideration possess similar performance features with regard to thermal efficiency. Second-generation gas turbines being produced today possess thermal efficiencies approximately 45 percent greater than those previously available. Thus, a new criterion is required to provide the purchaser with a better “value” perspective to differentiate the various types of turbomachinery under consideration. This paper presents a technique for combining the initial cost of equipment with the costs of fuel consumed, applied labor, and parts to arrive at an assessment parameter capable of comparing the relative merits of varying types of turbomachinery. For simplicity, this paper limits the life cycle cost derivation and discussion to turbogenerator units; however, the principles of this type of life cycle analysis can also be applied to gas turbines in mechanical drive applications and/or combined cycles.

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