Design and Simulation of an On-Grid Rooftop Photovoltaic System for University Campus: A Case Study of Northern University Bangladesh

The academic institutions in Bangladesh, characterized as a significant consumer of energy, persists in its reliance on non-renewable sources despite the feasibility of adopting rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. Moreover, universities in Bangladesh are facing higher electricity expenses due to increased student enrollments and various operational demands. A rooftop solar PV system installation is identified as a viable option to significantly reduce the annual electricity costs at these institutions. This study technically evaluates the feasibility of installing a <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\boldsymbol{424}\ \mathbf{kW}_{\mathbf{p}}$</tex> rooftop solar PV system at the Northern University Bangladesh (NUB) campus, located in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, utilizing HelioScope and PVsyst software for analysis. The installation costs for this system are estimated at 30,515,800.00 BDT, with the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) calculated at 3.861 BDT/kWh. Implementing this system could lead to a reduction of about 7750.4 tCO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> in emissions throughout its operational lifetime. The study finds that this system could generate approximately 561 MWh of energy per year, meeting approximately 20% of the NUB campus's energy requirements. This could decrease dependency on fossil fuels and reduce electricity costs by 20%. Additionally, HelioScope simulation results confirm that the necessary number of modules, with appropriate spacing, can be accommodated on the available rooftop space.