Hybrid Inverter-Based Rooftop Solar PV System for Inter-Building Power Sharing: A Techno-Economic Case Study of Green University

The current studies related to rooftop solar PV (SPV) systems on university campuses in Bangladesh are mostly conducted based on a single building, leaving the excess demand of nearby buildings unmet and energy surplus exported to the grid. The present paper proposes a new set up of a 133 JinkoSolar JKM590N-72HL4-BDV bifacial solar array mounted on the rooftop of G-Block at Green University of Bangladesh (GUB) to supply power to both G-Block and adjacent H-Block using a single Huawei SUN2000-75KTL-C1 hybrid inverter with dual-feeder distribution. Based on site-specific Meteonorm weather data, a simulation with PVsyst v7.4.7 is performed, which yields an annual energy yield of 107,102 kWh (specific yield 1,365 kWh/kWp/year, performance ratio 84.2%). The system costs USD 26,787 (USD 0.34/Wp) to install, and has a simple payback period of 4.0 years, and a levelized cost of energy of USD 0.0318/kWh under NPBS-2 tariff of BDT 9.05/kWh, saving around BDT 969,273 (≈USD 7,880) per annum. The system has a net carbon footprint mitigation of 1488.1 tCO2 over a lifetime of 30 years. The results show that a single building’s roof-top PV power can be shared between two neighbouring buildings by a single hybrid inverter which provide favourable technical, financial and environmental outcomes in a low cost and scalable way towards zero-grid building operation.