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Proceedings of eSim 2016: 9th Conference of IBPSA-Canada

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Evaluation of source net-zero performance for community-scale retrofit photovoltaic systems in Canadian locations

Adam Wills, Ian Beausoleil-Morrison, Ismet Ugursal

Abstract: Net-zero energy is a popular performance target for buildings to reduce energy consumption. While this energy target is conceptually simple, several different definitions and calculation methods exist in the literature to determine net-zero performance. One proposed method is the determination of source net-zero performance. This target seeks not only to balance annual building energy consumption to on-site production, but to account for energy losses incurred by importing energy from the connected utility. This target is intended to provide a broader scope of a buildings energy consumption, and promote reduced utility energy import by increasing consumption of onsite renewable energy generation. While typically applied to a single-building, this study considers the netzero performance of a community of residential buildings located in 4 different climate regions in Canada: Atlantic, Ontario, Prairies, and British Columbia. The communities are comprised of existing dwellings rather than new-builds. Existing dwellings were considered since they will continue to be a significant portion of the building stock for decades to come. Consequently, existing buildings play a major roles in energy consumption reduction in the building sector. Communities of 50 dwellings were modelled in ESP-r for two retrofit cases, 2.5 and 10 kW rated photovoltaic arrays installed per dwelling, were modelled. For each case, a source net-zero balance was determined. The results highlight the significance of considering source energy in performance evaluation, and the regional variation of performance due to regional differences in energy sources and infrastructure.
Pages: 324 - 333
Paper:
esim2016_63-124