Chapter 1

Introduction
1.1 Introduction
There is a huge potential for solar energy. It is crucial to save the world from high
temperatures so that solar energy can fulfill the world's total energy needs. The world's total
energy consumption is around 17.7 Terawatts (TW) of power. This is equivalent to about 580
million tera-joules annually, or 13,865 million tons of oil equivalents. While the average
global consumption per capita is 2.2 kWY, there are significant disparities between countries.
For example, the US consumes 11 kWY per capita, while India consumes 0.3 kWY. General
energy senerio shown Fig 1.1.

11% 5%
37%

63%
84%

Fossil fuels: Renewables: Nuclear: Industry Households

Sources of energy Consumption by sector

(a) (b)

Fig 1.1: General energy senerio: (a) Sources of energy and (b) Consumption by sector

Global energy consumption has grown nearly every year for more than 50 years, except for
the early 1980s and 2009. In 2022, global electricity consumption was 24,398 terawatt-hours
(TWh), which is almost triple the amount consumed in 1981.

China is the world's largest consumer of primary energy, consuming 159.39

hexajoules in 2022. On average, Earth receives about 342 watts of solar energy per square
meter each year, which is a total of 44 quadrillion watts of power. The atmosphere allows
about half of the Sun's heat energy (50%) to reach Earth's surface. About a third of the Sun's
energy (30%) is reflected in space. The rest of the Sun's energy (20%) is absorbed by
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, like carbon dioxide, water vapor, and methane. Solar PV
accounted for 4.5% of total global electricity generation, and it remains the third largest
renewable electricity technology behind hydropower and wind. China was responsible for
about 38% of solar PV generation growth in 2022, thanks to large capacity additions

1
in 2021 and 2022. In 2022, solar energy accounted for roughly 4.6% of the world's electricity
generation, up from 3.7% in 2021. While it's a small portion of global energy consumption,
solar remains the third largest renewable electricity source after wind and hydropower
[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11].

According to Doug Pearce (2010/11), the photovoltaic effect, or the conversion of sunlight
into electricity, was first discovered in 1839 (Alyssa 2016a). Just over 100 years later in 1941
the first solar cell was invented. By the early sixties, satellites were being powered by solar
panels, albeit very expensive. Although commercially available since the seventies, solar
panels were prohibitively expensive (around $100 per watt) and as such found use mainly in
remote area power supplies where grid connection was not available. By the early 1990s
efficiencies were improving, but cost was still a major issue. With the advent of concerns
over global warming research into solar panels, technologies have accelerated and in
February 2009, the first Solar became the first manufacturer to produce a panel for less than
$1 per watt. Solar is now a financially viable alternative power source and with the
continuing development of existing and new technologies will become even more so (Doug,
2010/11) [12].

1.2 Prospect of Solar Energy

The simplest answer to this question of “What is energy?” is that energy causes things to
happen around us. Most of the energy comes from the sun. when we look out the window.
During the day, the sun gives out light and heat energy [16]. We can use this power from the
solar system. Buildings are large energy end users worldwide [17]. There is a huge potential
for solar energy [18]. The environmental challenges facing contemporary society are
substantial with the most serious threat coming from anthropogenic interference with the
global climate system [19]. Being a developing nation, Bangladesh has seen decent growth
over the past few years. Bangladesh entered renewable energy in 2017. In the Mujib Climate
Prosperity Plan 2022-2041, submitted to the Conference of Parties (COP26), the renewable
energy capacity target for 2030 has been set at 6,000MW-16,000MW [5]. Bangladesh aims to
increase the share of renewables to 30 percent by 2030 and at least 40 percent by 2041[20].
Progress towards 1.5C power sector benchmarks in Bangladesh 2000-2040 shown Fig 1.2.

2
 Fig 1.2: Progress towards 1.5C power sector benchmarks Bangladesh 2000-2040 [31]

The installation of PV systems transforms the building’s role in the urban energy systems
from electricity ‘consumers’ to electricity ‘prosumers’, i.e. electricity consumers who also
produce on-site electricity from renewable energy sources. When building prosumers produce
more energy than their energy demand, they are called ‘positive energy buildings’. When
multiple building prosumers are grouped in a building community, they can form a positive
energy district (PED), which is defined by IEA as energy-efficient and energy-flexible
building areas with surplus renewable energy production and net zero greenhouse gas
emissions. Solar power shared building community is the type of positive energy district in
which buildings can share their surplus PV power with other buildings. Such energy sharing
can help increase the community aggregated-level PV power self-consumption (i.e. the
amount of PV power used on-site instead of exporting to the power grid) and thus reduce the
grid power usage [17]. Many countries including Bangladesh installed solar systems on
building rooftops. The world's largest rooftop solar panel was built in Thailand. This
installation is being constructed at the Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) factory in Thailand,
where Falken is a subsidiary. The installation is composed of 40,000 solar panels with a
combined output of 22MW and is set to be completed by January 2025 [13]. Bluenergy
Stadium, formerly known as Stadio Friuli, is an all-seater football stadium in Udine, Italy,
and the home of the Serie A club Udinese. The installation is composed of 2,409 solar panels
with a combined output of 1,100,000 KWh/y and is set to be completed by October 2024
[14]. The Bundesliga club SC Freiburg, the functionaries of the City of Freiburg in Germany,
and badenova (power company) officials inaugurated the solar power plant on the roof of
the Europa Park Stadium by activating an oversized power switch together. The 2.4-
megawatt system is one of the world’s largest solar roofs in a football stadium. More than

3
6,000 PV modules were installed on the part of the roof that slopes three percent in all
directions and thus promises the greatest solar yield [15]. The world's largest solar mini-grid
rooftop system has been installed in Italy, which project name is CIS (Centro Ingrosso
Sviluppo Campano) in Nola, located in Nola - Naples, Italy, The Nominal Power is 25 MWp,
Annual Production is 33 GW.h and which has completed in 2013. Now this project is in
operation [12]. In Asia, the Largest Rooftop Solar PV Plant has been installed on a rooftop
made of asbestos sheet with an area of 94,000 sq.m., Located in Punjab, India, the Nominal
Power is 7.52 MWp and was commissioned in June 2014. Now, it is in operation [12]. The
world's first solar-powered cricket ground name is Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy Stadium. The
Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has commissioned a 400-KW solar plant on the
stadium gallery roof to power the entire stadium except for the high-intensity floodlights [13].
In Bangladesh, BPDB first installed a solar mini-grid system on a building rooftop. In the
fiscal year 2010-2011, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) installed 32.75 kWp
solar PV Roof Top systems at WAPDA Building, Motijheel, Dhaka city, and in the fiscal
year 2011-2012, BPDB installed 37.5 kWp Solar Roof Top System on 15th floor of
BidyutBhaban, Segunbagicha, Dhaka city [9].

1.3 Literature Summary

A Rooftop photovoltaic is a system that uses one or more photovoltaic panels, installed on
rooftops of residential or commercial buildings, to convert sunlight into electricity. The
various components in a rooftop photovoltaic power station include photovoltaic modules,
mounting systems, cables, solar inverters, and other electrical accessories. Universities in
Bangladesh that use solar systems and their capacity shown in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1: Universities in Bangladesh that use solar systems and their capacity.

University Name Project Name Capacity Referenc

e
Bangladesh University of Engineering Rooftop Solar 3.27 MWp [32]
and Technology (BUET)
Dhaka University (DU) Rooftop Solar 3.27 MWp [33]
Khulna University Rooftop Solar 3.5 MWp [34]
Daffodil International University (DIU) Rooftop Solar 3 MW [35]
Jessore University of Science and Rooftop Solar 1 MW [36]
Technology (JUST)

4
Jagannath University Rooftop Solar 27 KW/Month [37]
Begum Rokeya University Rooftop Solar 60 KW [38, 39]
Ahsanullah University of Science and Rooftop Solar 466.36 MWh [40]
Technology (AUST)
International University of Business Rooftop Solar 234 KW [41]
Agriculture and Technology (IUABT) under construction
University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh Rooftop Solar 200 KW [42]
(ULAB) under construction
Khwaja Yunus Ali University (KYAU) Rooftop Solar 750 MW [12]
BRAC Rooftop Solar 3 MW [43]

1.4 Objectives of the Project

The main objectives of this project are -

• To analyze the daily energy consumption patterns of multiple campus buildings

across different seasons (summer, rainy, and winter) by conducting hourly surveys.
• To identify site area, design and simulate rooftop solar PV systems using appropriate
panels and other components in PVsyst software to generate solar power profiles for
typical days in each season.
• To develop and implement an energy-sharing algorithm that efficiently distributes
generated solar energy among the campus buildings based on priority order and
requirement index, including emergency provisions.
• To investigate the possibility of selling extra energy back to the grid via net metering
and to assess the economical viability and effects of using solar energy first, then grid
energy.

1.5 Conclusion

The rest of the report has been structured in subsequent chapters: Chapter 2 discusses the
proposed methodology; Chapter 3 illustrates and analyzes the results; and Chapter 4
concludes the report with general discussions and a few suggestions for future studies.