Simultaneous use of PV system and green roof: A techno-economic study on power generation and energy consumption.

Abstract The buildings around the world consume about one-third of final energy in both residential and commercial sectors. To reduce annual power consumption, however, energy saving in construction of division has a particular importance. In this paper, the effect of green roof along with rooftop photovoltaic (PV) solar panels on energy efficiency of a typical building is investigated in a comprehensive analytic approach. For this purpose, three vegetation coatings including crops, grass, and shrub as well as three commercial solar panels including CanadianSolar, Suntech, and Trina are considered and evaluated. The technical and economic analyses of this project have been simulated with DesignBuilder (DB) and PVSOL software respectively, using Net Present Value (NPV) method. According to the results, the reduction of energy consumption in presence of green roof is about 0.1%. The simulation results of PV system shows the electricity production is up to 26 MWh in a year and the return of capital will be between 6.5 to 7.5 years. In addition, the maximum reduction of carbon dioxide emissions is annually 16.31 tons which will be obtained by installing crops and Trina solar panels simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]