Campus and community micro grids integration of building integrated photovoltaic renewable energy sources: Case study of Split 3 area, Croatia - Part A

Abstract

Micro grids interconnect loads and distributed energy resources as a single controllable entity. New installations of renewable energy sources in urban areas, such as building integrated photovoltaic, provide opportunities to increase energy independence and diversify energy sources in the energy system. This paper explores the integration of renewable energy sources into two case study communities in an urban agglomeration to provide optimal conditions to meet a share of the electrical loads. Energy planning case studies for decentralized generation of renewable energy are conducted in highways 2 renewable systems energy planning software for hourly energy balances. The results indicate that building integrated photovoltaic and photovoltaic in the case study communities can cover about 17% of the recorded electrical demand of both areas. On a yearly basis, there will be a 0.025 GWh surplus of photovoltaic production with a maximum value of 1.25 MWh in one hour of operation unless grid storage is used. This amounts to a total investment cost of 13.36 million EUR. The results are useful for proposing future directions for the various case study communities targeting sustainable development.