The Potential of Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Generation System at The Laboratory Complex of University of Riau

Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems are becoming the future type of power plant to meet the electrical energy needs of buildings. The open roof of the building facing the sky has the potential to harvest energy from solar energy. The roof of the Faculty of Engineering Laboratory Building at Riau University has the potential to be used to capture solar energy. In this study, the research is focused on designing a comprehensive solar PV system that adapts to the geographical conditions of the campus. The data was calculated using software to design and analyze the rooftop PV system. Meteorological data was collected using an automatic weather station (AWS). The data measured through the AWS includes solar irradiation, temperature, humidity, and wind speed. The data is sampled once every 5 minutes, resulting in 12 data points per hour. The amount of data for one day is 12 multiplied by 24 hours. The total data for one month is obtained by multiplying the daily data by the number of days in the month. In details of this study, the PV panels were installed on the roof space of the Laboratory Building which is grid-connected. In addition, detailed technical analysis including effective roof area, roof orientation, number of panels and power capacity of the proposed PV were analyzed. As the result an effective roof area of 1,510.500 m2, the total number of panels of 656 pieces, the total power capacity of 229,600 Wp, and the total amount of energy generated by the module array of 160,545 kWh per year were achieved respectively. The energy delivered to the grid amounted to as much as 155,414 kWh per year. The specific energy generated was 677 kWh/KWp/year and the Performance Ratio (PR) reached 82%.