Techno-Economic Design of a 100% Renewable House: A Case Study for St. John’s

Elsaraf, Hashem (2020) Techno-Economic Design of a 100% Renewable House: A Case Study for St. John’s. Project Report. Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Newfoundland and Labrador has agreed to a zero net GHG emissions by 2050 target which if strived for would entail a large transition in the province’s energy consumption. This study aimed at the techno-economic design of a solar thermal combi system to replace the existing oil heating system for a residence in St. John’s followed by an energy efficiency retrofit. First, eleven fundamental solar thermal equations were combined with load and weather data to derive relevant insights. It was found that a combi system can be described referencing two boundary conditions based on whether the water in the system is used or consumed with the system converging on the lower boundary as the tank size increases. This was confirmed using f-chart calculations and polysun simulation. Economic evaluation showed that the designed system was profitable and more viable than an electric heating system using PV-Wind technologies. The system was able to reduce the house’s emissions by over 5.2 tonnes/year. A PVT system was also designed which was superior to the combi and PV systems in terms of area utilization and energy generation but worse in terms of economic performance. Then a south facing SolarWall was evaluated in RETScreen. The results show that by including the amount of building heat recaptured, the SolarWall produces 51% more energy than a roof mounted solar air collector of similar size. Finally, an energy retrofit was investigated which replaces old appliances and building elements with energy efficient ones. The results were evaluated based on energy usage change, emissions reduction and economic merit. It was concluded that air leakage reduction is able to save the most energy while exhibiting the most favorable economics. The final combination of included measures yielded a 52% reduction in heating oil consumption, 8% decrease in electricity consumption and over $1900 in annual savings which resulted in $11,000 in profit over the project’s lifetime.

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