Technical and economic feasibility study of solar powered air conditioners in Brunei Darussalam

• Main Authors: Alhakmi, E, Khalil, Ashraf F., Hamid, Z, Peng, A.S., Uddin, M.R., Jaafar, S, Mohammed, I, Khan, Sheroz, Yaacob, Mashkuri
• Format: Article
• Language: English; English
• Published: Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka 2020
• Subjects: TK7800 Electronics. Computer engineering. Computer hardware. Photoelectronic devices
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/76510/1/UNITENREvised%20Mashkuri1%20Khalil%20ICEE%20paper%201570550439.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/76510/2/Accept_paper_khalil.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/76510/; http://journal.utem.edu.my/index.php/jamt
• Institution: Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia

On daily basis, a huge amount of fossil fuel is being burnt which results in a substantial amount of greenhouse gasses being released into the atmosphere. Air conditioners are becoming more common and are a major strain on energy demands especially in tropical climate countries like Brunei Darussalam. The photovoltaic electricity is a clean and sustainable. In this paper, we present a techno-economic feasibility study for solar powered air conditioning system in Brunei Darussalam. Four alternatives are investigated, 1) the PV system supplies 50% of the loads, 2) the PV system supplies 75% of the loads, 3) the PV system supplies 100% of the loads, and finally 4) the PV system supplies 125% of the loads. Where in the last two case the excess electricity is sold to the grid. With 0.3$ feed-in tariff. The best alternative is the grid-connected PV system with 125% capacity factor which was chosen due to its short payback time period as well as high profit rate over the lifetime of the project.