Conference Paper

Proceedings of eSim 2024: 13th Conference of IBPSA-Canada

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions with Solar Energy Battery or Sensible Storage Systems

Ava Bebbington, Jordan McNally, Cynthia Cruickshank
Carleton University

Abstract: Climate change concerns and electricity costs continue to rise, increasing the financial incentive for homeowners to generate their own electricity from renewable sources such as photovoltaic solar panels. Not all provinces in Canada compensate customers for excess energy generated, thus some homeowners may benefit from self-consumptive solar energy systems which store excess energy for later use. The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of two types of solar energy storage systems for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Several configurations of solar energy storage systems were modelled in TRNSYS software to compare the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of systems using either battery storage or sensible storage (the latter using a hot water tank). The operational greenhouse gas emissions of each scenario were analyzed for twelve Canadian cities, with the largest reduction occurring when the sensible storage system was used in Yellowknife, with the second-largest reduction in Halifax.
Keywords: solar energy, battery storage, sensible storage, greenhouse gas, residential buildings
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