Imperial College London
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Professor Niall Mac Dowell FIChemE FRSC

Faculty of Natural Sciences, Centre for Environmental Policy

Professor of Future Energy Systems
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 9298niall Website

 
 
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Location

 

16 Prince's GardensSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Al-Saqlawi:2018:10.1016/j.enconman.2018.10.021,
author = {Al-Saqlawi, J and Madani, K and Mac, Dowell N},
doi = {10.1016/j.enconman.2018.10.021},
journal = {Energy Conversion and Management},
pages = {322--334},
title = {Techno-economic feasibility of grid-independent residential roof-top solar PV systems in Muscat, Oman},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2018.10.021},
volume = {178},
year = {2018}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Oman is a country characterised by high solar availability, yet very little electricity is produced using solar energy. As the residential sector is the largest consumer of electricity in Oman, we develop a novel approach, using houses in Muscat as a case study, to assess the potential of implementing roof-top solar PV/battery technologies, that operate without recourse to the electricity grid. Such systems target the complete decarbonisation of electricity demand per household and are defined in this study as grid-independent systems. The approach adopted starts with a technical assessment of grid-independent systems that evaluates the characteristics of the solar panel and the battery facility required to provide grid-independence. This is then compared to a similar grid-connected system and any techno-economic targets necessary to enhance the feasibility of residential roof-top PV systems in Muscat are identified. Such an analysis was achieved through developing a detailed techno-economic mathematical model describing four sub-systems; the solar panel DC source, the grid-independent sub-system, the grid-connected sub-system and the economic sub-system. The model was implemented in gPROMS and uses real hourly weather and climate conditions matched with real demand data, over a simulated period of 20 years. The results indicate that, in the context of the system studied, grid-independent PV systems are not feasible. However, combined with a sufficiently high electricity price, grid-independent systems can become economically feasible only with significant reductions in battery costs (>90% reductions).
AU  - Al-Saqlawi,J
AU  - Madani,K
AU  - Mac,Dowell N
DO  - 10.1016/j.enconman.2018.10.021
EP  - 334
PY  - 2018///
SN  - 0196-8904
SP  - 322
TI  - Techno-economic feasibility of grid-independent residential roof-top solar PV systems in Muscat, Oman
T2  - Energy Conversion and Management
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2018.10.021
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/64293
VL  - 178
ER  -
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