Very Large-Scale Solar Energy Systems deployment, design aspects and Prospects of Energy exports of Saudi Arabia via HVDC transmission
The future of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is to shift from the fossil fuels export to the renewable energy exports. KSA has huge solar resources which can be used to generate renewable energy by employing solar energy systems such as photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP) systems. The very large-scale solar energy farms in KSA can generate electrical energy to fulfill not only the domestic needs but also the prospects of selling excess energy to western countries and developing countries in the east. King Abdulaziz Centre of renewable energy (K.A.CARE) data will be used to perform the simulations required to find the feasibility of the area. The energy farm area will be decided based on the available free space. In this work, very large scale solar energy farms are analyzed by the weather data provided by the K.A.CARE. The generated electrical energy is compared to the load profile of KSA and potential customers for energy exports by the high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission. Finally, the cost of the project will be calculated based net present cost and levelized cost of energy. The results by this research will provide a roadmap to the goals of 9.9 GW by Vision 2030 of KSA.
Research Project #
38/109
Feasibility and Design Aspects of Zero Energy Building Blocks in Various Cities of Kinqdom of Saudi Arabia Using Renewable Energy Resources.
Buildings are the leading user of electrical energy. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has unique load profile in which the peak load triples in summer months by excessive load of cooling equipment installed in the buildings. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has high availability of solar power while wind power resources are also available in coastal areas. The high values of Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) means that buildings in KSA require large energy to keep them cool. The use of solar panels on roof and walls will produce electrical power and offer shading to reduce the heat transfer into the building. Usually building rooftop area is not enough to power whole building but a solar or wind farm within a block of buildings can offer zero energy block. In this work photovoltaic (PV) arrays will be placed on the rooftop of buildings of a block area and excessive load will be catered by solar farm or a wind farm depending on the area resources of renewable energy. K.A.CARE data will be used to perform the simulations required to find the feasibility of the area. Different blocks of various cities of Kingdom will be analyzed for the proposed scheme. The ratio of rooftop PV arrays energy to the energy consumed by the building will be calculated. This result will help in deciding the size of energy farm required in that block. The energy farm area will be decided based on the available free space. Finally the cost of the project will be calculated based on installation cost and benefits including reduction of transmission and distributions losses. The results by this research will provide a roadmap to the goals of 9.9 GW by Vision 2030 of KSA and for new city design projects like NEOM announced by KSA.
Research Project #
38/57
Optimization of building energy system by using PV arrays for energy production and building insulation and sensors based smart Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning control
In this work PV arrays will be placed on the rooftop of College of Engineering, Majmaah and temperature sensors will be used on roof and inside the building to measure the effect of shading on the building by PV array which will result in reduction of heat transfer into the building. The energy produced by the PV array will reduce the power consumption of the building from the main grid. A HVAC control of building will be optimized to save power by using sensors inside and outside the building. Finally, a techno-economic feasibility of building energy improvement by PV arrays will be performed for the Engineering College building in the city of Al-Majmaah province of Riyadh, KSA.
Research Project #
IFP-2020-09
Design and Optimization of Solar Energy based Electrical Power Generation Systems and Storage Systems
Saudi Arabia has enormous resource of solar energy. There exist two major ways of harnessing the sun energy namely, system (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP). The purpose of this research project is to evaluate design, optimize and evaluate generation of electrical energy from solar resource using PV and CSP (Parabolic trough, Solar Tower, Parabolic Dish and Fresnel lens) technologies. Since solar resource is intermittent in nature and also its availability after the sunset causes interruption of power supply during cloudy days and after the sunset in case of stand-alone power generation systems. Therefore, it is important to include a storage system to store the excess energy during the peak solar resource hours and then use this energy when sun is not available. This research work will evaluate the possibility of using various energy storage systems such as batteries, thermal energy storage and pumped hydro storage for PV and CSP power generation systems. Both the power generation systems will be optimized for maximum energy output and minimum electricity generation cost. A comparison will be performed to evaluate the effectiveness of various energy storage options. In the end a detailed techno-economic performance evaluation of optimized PV, CSP, and hybrid solar power generation systems (PV+CSP) will be carried out to know the best possible solar power generation technology and energy storage combination. This research is very useful for solar belt region countries such as Saudi Arabia and it will provide useful directions for the solar power technology adoption in Saudi Arabia.
Research Project #
RGP-2019-21
Design and optimization of solar energy-based electrical power generation systems and storage systems
The gross domestic product (GDP) of Pakistan is deteriorating by power shortage. The floating PV (FPV) on lakes and dams can address this problem by generating energy at cheaper rates and reducing evaporation of water at the same time. The best location is selected by comparing the available solar resources, nearby load, storage of land, and performance parameters such as energy yield (EY), capacity factor (CF), levelized cost of energy (LCOE), and net present cost (NPC). The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) shows that the best location for the FPV in Pakistan is Chinna Creek in the megacity of Karachi. The global horizontal irradiance (GHI) in Chinna Creek is 6.1 kWh/m2/day, where land is scarce. This site can generate electrical energy by the FPV system at an energy yield of 2345 kWh/kW, which is 8.6% higher than the land-based PV (LBPV) system. The total national installed capacity (IC) of Pakistan in 2017 is 28 GW, while the analysis shows that Pakistan has capabilities of 190 GW IC in the form of FPV systems. A detailed analysis of the FPV system and its comparison with the LBPV is provided as a guideline for policymakers.
