Study of Grid connected Building Integrated Photovoltaic System at Thapar University Campus

Abstract

The energy consumption in the world particularly in the industrialized countries has been growing at alarming rate. Fossil fuels which today meet major part of the energy demand are being depleted quickly. World bas started running out of oil and it is estimated that 80% of the world's supply will be consumed in our life time. Coal supplies may appear to be large but even this stock may not last longer than a few decades. More over the pollution hazard arising out of fossil fuel-burning is become quite significant in recent years. Nuclear power has posed a number of problems and nuclear fusion is still a speculative technology. Thus we are forced to look for unconventional energy sources such as geothermal ocean tides, wind and sun. All unconventional energy sources have geographical limitations. But solar energy has less geographical limitation as compared to other unconventional energy sources because solar energy is available over the entire globe. There are so many ways to generate electricity from solar energy. One way is to generate electricity from solar energy is use photovoltaic cells; magic slivers of silicon that converts the solar energy falling on them directly into electricity. Large scale applications of photovoltaic for power generation, either on the rooftops of houses or in large fields connected to the utility grid are promising as well to provide clean, safe and strategically sound alternatives to current methods of electricity generation. Solar energy is set to play an ever-increasing role in generating the form, and affecting the appearance and construction, of buildings. The principal reason for this is that photovoltaic (PV) systems which produce electricity directly from solar radiation are becoming more widespread as their advantages become apparent and as costs fall. PVs are an advanced materials technology that will help us design buildings which are environmentally responsible, responsive and exciting. Thus our aim to examine all the necessary steps and key components needed to design and build a building integrated photovoltaic system its different types and advantages.