Rooftop Solar Power Potential of a Municipal Area in Bangladesh

Abstract

A dependable, inexpensive, and secure energy source is essential for socioeconomic development of a country. As a country experiencing a severe power shortage, Bangladesh is eager to develop its renewable energy sources in addition to its usual fossil fuel sources. It has very limited nonrenewable energy sources, but renewable energy sources such as biomass, wind, hydro, and sun insolation are abundant. Bangladesh is a south Asian small country with a large population. As a result, it has a problem of land shortage but due to its geographical location Bangladesh is boon to solar insolation. So, rooftop solar panels would be the best solution to reconcile the electricity demand. The following research paper is based on the rooftop solar potential of a municipal area in Bangladesh. To estimate the potential a four-step methodology has been followed: 1) Irradiation estimation, 2) Area estimation, 3) PV modules technology efficiency estimation, 4) Performance ratio. A total irradiation of 4.65 kWh/ m²/day has been estimated through PVsyst and solar electricity handbook. A total area of 48000 m² with 532 buildings has been estimated through ArcGIS software. System efficiency for different types of PV technology such as mono-Si(22.44%), poly-Si(18.13%), a-Si (11.96%), CdTe (17.15%) has been shown. Among them, mono-Si is the most preferable. Inverter efficiency is also an important factor in estimating solar potential. In general inverters' conversion efficiencies range from 97% to 99% for best output 98% of inverter efficiency has been chosen. The performance ratio for Asia region is ranged between 84%-86% and for best performance, 86% of PR value has been taken. Finally, it is shown that a total potential of 15739 MWh has been found for mono-Si PV panels.