Development of a smart energy system for railway station buildings

Abstract

The use of photovoltaic solar power is seeing a notable growth as an emerging energy source, playing a crucial role in the creation of renewable energy. This kind of energy is essential in the pursuit of meeting the established climate objectives in the near future. When strategizing for the implementation of novel photovoltaic installations, the design is influenced by several factors, including local variables such as weather, as well as system characteristics like tilt and azimuth angles. The objective of this thesis project is to develop a tool capable of simulating several solar systems and providing estimations for system sizes, grid interactions, and area needs for each system. This research project's goals are to support the national plan to reduce carbon emissions in railway station buildings, to learn about and use advanced technologies in international building management, and to ensure energy savings, safety, and comfort in railway station buildings in a cost-effective way from the point of view of energy management, with expected energy savings of 20% or more using smart energy system controls. South Africans have had trouble getting power to their homes and businesses recently because the utility company didn't have enough. This is called "load shedding." The primary drivers for transitioning to renewable energy are the challenges posed by climate change and the increasing demand for power. The primary objective is to demonstrate the use of model-based techniques in a grid-connected solar photovoltaic system designed for commercial purposes. The objective of this thesis is to develop a grid-connected solar PV rooftop system for the East London Railway station in East London, Eastern Cape, while considering various operational scenarios. To conduct these studies, multiple methodologies have been used, including site selection, roof selection, PV installation, and electrical string design. In order to streamline the design process, computer-based tools have been used. This presentation introduces a modelling tool called System Advisor Model (SAM) that is used for building, predicting, and analysing Commercial PV systems. The simulation yielded system performance data on an hourly, monthly, and yearly basis. The SAM program utilizes the provided installation, running expenses, and system design characteristics as inputs to generate performance projections and cost of energy estimations for this system. The primary conclusions of this research indicate that the East London train station has the necessary technological capacity to implement distributed photovoltaic systems. The yearly energy output of these systems is 30.154 kilowatt-hours (kWh), which is enough to meet about 65.7% of the power requirements of the train station. The system's performance ratio of 0.897 indicates an effectiveness of 35.10 percent. The method that was constructed and simulated has the potential to significantly reduce the amount of CO₂ emissions in the East London region.