Feasibility Analysis for the Implementation of Solar PV Technology in a Day Care Facility in Calgary

Abstract

Photovoltaic power is becoming an attractive energy source option for small businesses. As a base case, I collected electrical energy and natural gas monthly data from Little Worlds Learning Centre, a day care facility in Calgary, for the calendar year of 2018. I considered two possible scenarios. For Scenario A, I considered only the electricity consumption, and for Scenario B, I considered the consumption of electricity and natural gas. For each scenario, using RETScreen, I designed a photovoltaic system that would produce, in a one-year period, approximately the equivalent energy as was used in the year 2018. In my design and analysis, I considered aspects, such as, photovoltaic technologies available in the market, installation and maintenance costs, greenhouse gas emissions and economic incentives from the Alberta Government, among others. My analysis indicates that only Scenario A is economically feasible and has an associated greenhouse gas reduction of over 90%.

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