An Energy-Efficient Design of a Grid-tied PV System Wielding the Roof Area of a University in Dhaka with Net Metering Scheme

Meeting the exceptionally high energy demands of the current world has been proven to be exceedingly challenging with limited non-renewable resources like fossil fuels, mining, and nuclear fuel. Understanding this acute limitation, a growing shift towards renewable energy sources is occurring with solar energy emerging as a superior alternative. This research focuses on designing and evaluating an energy-efficient PV system installed on the roof of a private university named European University of Bangladesh (EUB) located in Dhaka, Bangladesh to meet its electricity demand. The viability of the proposed system is evaluated in terms of energy efficiency analysis, economic inspection and environmental impact. Under standard test conditions (STC), the proposed system can generate 303.2 MWh of electricity annually. This generated electricity can consummate the energy demand of the building and the surplus power can be sold to the national electricity grid. According to the ‘Net Metering Guideline-2018’, an estimated BDT of $\mathbf{3. 6 6}$ lac can be profited annually by selling electricity to the grid. The most alluring feature of the proposed system is that it offers an astonishingly cheap ‘Cost of Energy’ (COE) of 5.23 BDT/kWh. The novelty of this optimized rooftop PV design is that it is practically implementable, offers economical COE, is nearly able to meet the building’s electricity demand and is a profit-making project under the Net Metering Guideline. Therefore, this research is an ideal blueprint to emulate similar rooftop PV systems by other educational institutions, contributing to the broader adoption of SDG7 goals.