Feasibility, Sizing and Economic Analysis of Solar Energy System for Green Swinburne Campus

In 2011 alone, Malaysia has spent a hefty RM14.5 billion in buying fossil fuels to generate electricity. With the cost of fossil fuels rising each year, the nation is looking to rely on more sustainable energy sources. One way to decrease the reliance on fossil fuel is to minimize electricity consumption or use renewable energy sources. This research tests if it is feasible to run the Swinburne campus with Solar photovoltaic (PV) cells. This study aims to design and implement a PV energy system to power Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak. The design of the PV system is performed with the collection of the solar irradiance in Kuching, load profile of the Campus and the area required to layout the panels. Block-E of Swinburne is chosen for the PV system since all Swinburne blocks together consume very high power and do not have the required area for the panels. A Grid-tied system is considered for the PV design. MATLAB software is used to size the PV system. Economic analysis such as Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) and payback period is studied for the PV system.