Financial Analysis of a Grid-Tied Rooftop Solar PV System for University Campus: A Case Study

This paper presents the financial analysis of a gridtied rooftop solar PV system with a net metering mechanism for a university campus to determine the profitability and acceptability of a rooftop solar PV system. The proposed rooftop solar PV system shows the ability to fulfill the maximum energy demand consumed by the different administrative buildings, academic buildings, student halls, and residential buildings and supply surplus power to the national grid which contributes to national energy management. The required data of the total electricity consumption of the university campus and the available rooftop area of the different buildings of the campus has been collected. The source of funding and the cost of capital is the interest rate which should be paid to the lender organization has been identified. The net present value (NPV), profitability index (PI), payback period, average return on average investment (ROI), internal rate of return (IRR), and the modified internal rate of return of the project have been calculated which are the indicators of the project’s profitability and acceptability. The overall result of this financial analysis of the grid-tied rooftop solar PV system is found to be feasible to be installed on the rooftop of the buildings of the university campus.