The contribution of small-scale wind and photovoltaic renewable energy sources to the Scottish energy mix.

Fowler, Ailsa Mhairi

Abstract

Energy needs in the UK are currently met primarily through the use of finite resources, such as oil, coal and gas. The use of these fuels has led to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. There is a need for a more localised and sustainable energy source to meet the demands of our cities. Renewable energy is now being considered as a realistic contributor to both our energy and environmental problems. The contribution of small “ scale distributed power generation from renewable sources to the Scottish energy mix is examined. The daily potential energy available from wind and solar resources will be modelled using spectral techniques such as Wavelets and Fourier analysis. From this, synthetic time series of the energy available will be created based on the characteristics of real life data. Along with this, a simple model for both the electricity and heating energy consumption of a typical domestic building is proposed. This allows for the approximation of daily domestic consumption values from monthly average energy values. The potential energy available is then compared with the estimated domestic energy consumption. The loads best suited for, and met by PV generating systems and wind systems will also be assessed, along with the proportion of time that the domestic demand is met or exceeded. This work will be backed up with realistic examples from building integrated renewable systems based on typical data for Aberdeen. All this would allow for a potential statistical relationship between energy supply and demand to be developed in the future. The results of the analysis allowed for the estimation of the potential wind and PV system sizes required to match either the typical summer or winter domestic demand. From these sizes, it was concluded that a combination of a 5m2 PV system and a 1.5kW wind turbine was required to match the typical domestic base load. Widespread implementation of these combined systems, on suitable dwellings, could provide a 16% contribution to the Scottish domestic electricity demand.

Citation

FOWLER, A.M. 2011. The contribution of small-scale wind and photovoltaic renewable energy sources to the Scottish energy mix. Robert Gordon University, PhD thesis.

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Aug 2, 2011
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 2, 2011
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/656
• Award Date: Apr 30, 2011