Grant: Alliance Grants

The use of renewable energy sources in buildings in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has been widely accepted as an effective strategy, but most such applications are at the building level, and the on-site use of renewable energy resources is less than 30%. To overcome these limitations, community-shared solar energy has gained global popularity in recent years due to its flexibility in implementation and its favourable financial structure. In particular, the concept has grown in popularity among professionals and authorities due to its potential sustainability merits. However, currently there are no available methods that can be used for estimating the energy dynamics of communities that use this technology. The project outlined in this proposal aims to develop a state-of-the-art framework for evaluating (both analytically and experimentally) the energy performance of a new or existing residential community equipped with or planning to install a solar energy system of this kind. One of the key innovations of the proposed framework will be a home energy profile simulation model developed based on minute-by-minute energy consumption and generation data. The simulation of the complicated energy flow of solar energy system performance in northerly climates will provide comprehensive understanding of energy dynamics under different climate conditions. The proposed research will also offer practical guidelines for community-shared solar energy system design. In terms of social benefits, the adoption of renewable energy resources in residential communities, which the proposed research facilitates, is expected to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the housing sector. Furthermore, this research project will contribute to Canada's economy by introducing a new technology to the Canadian homebuilding market. Given that the community-shared solar energy system is a relatively novel concept in the local market, it is envisioned that this pioneering development will result in several social benefits such as resolving the negative stigma about the feasibility and economics of solar energy.