A study of Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficient Technologies for Off-grid Community Residential Buildings in High Solar Radiation Regions

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Research objectives and questions Identify suitable stand-alone Renewable Energy Systems; two systems have been identified (a) High Concentrated Photovoltaics system to provide electricity and hot water and (b) solar-powered electrolyser system for production of hydrogen to be used as energy storage and cooking; Identify suitable Energy Efficient Technology; one promising low-cost technology has been identified - reflective (cool) paint for the external building envelope to reduce heat transfer to internal space. Identify off-the-self technologies and systems suitable for residential buildings to reduce energy demand and develop an energy management system linked to Renewable Energy Systems;Carry out a Life Cycle Analysis of (a) High Concentrated Photovoltaics system, (b) solar-powered electrolyser system and (c) reflective (cool) paint. Research methodology High Concentrated Photovoltaics system is a state of the art technology that is commercially available and continuously being researched and developed for application in high solar radiation regions because of the continuous increase in efficiency. Reflective (cool) paint is a high tech low-cost technology used to improve thermal comfort in naturally ventilated houses and reduce energy demand in air-conditioned houses. The solar-powered electrolyser system will be used to further increase the flexibility of the Renewable Energy System (via production of hydrogen to be used as energy storage and cooking), and hence the overall efficiency of the off-grid energy provision system. The integral energy and Life Cycle Analysis of the two stand-alone Renewable Energy Systems and one Energy Efficient Technology will contribute to knowledge in the area of stand-alone Renewable Energy System, new methodological approach in the development of off-grid communities and the results from this study will provide decision and policy makers with measurements of environmental and economic indicators in the drive towards sustainability.The research methods are theoretical and computational modelling and field measurements. The computational tools to be used are EnergyPlus for thermal and energy modelling and SimaPro for LCA modelling. The following research task will be carried out: EnergyPlus will be used to model energy consumption and hot water use for with and without Energy Efficient Technologies. The results with Energy Efficient Technologies will be used to size the High Concentrated Photovoltaics system and hydrogen storage; Experimental data from a High Concentrated Photovoltaics module installation in Palermo will be used to calibrate a theoretical model to provide reliable predictions for the provision of required electricity and hot water for the community; Experimental data from houses in Palermo and Portmore will be used to calibrate the EP models to ensure the accuracy of simulations. In addition, a cool roof installation in Portmore will be used to calibrate the EnergyPlus Life Cycle Analysis will be carried out using SimaPro to evaluate the embodied energy, operation energy and environmental impacts of the studied High Concentrated Photovoltaics system, solar-powered electrolyser system and reflective (cool) paint. Data required for Life Cycle Analysis analysis will be sourced from collaborating industry (IDEA Ltd and Sika International). Published data for solar-powered electrolyser system will be also used as far as possible. The Life Cycle Analysis results will be compared with available data of grid electricity Life Cycle Analysis.