Designing an On-grid Rooftop Photovoltaic System for Powering a University Campus: A Case Study of Begum Rokeya University: A Case Study of Begum Rokeya University

The academic institute, a significant energy consumer, continues to rely on non-renewable power in spite of having the opportunity to install rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. To the authors' best knowledge, no research has been published in Bangladesh that explored the possible use of rooftop PV systems in academic institutions from a technical and economic standpoint. This study presents the technical evaluation of a 60 kWP rooftop solar PV system for the Begum Rokeya University Campus in Rangpur, Bangladesh, using Heliscope and PVsyst software. The analysis reveals the annual energy production by the proposed system is about 91.39 MWh/year, which can meet 69 % energy demand of the selected academic building. This can reduce the total electricity bill by about 69% and the dependency on the grid electricity mainly from fossil fuels. In addition, the Helioscope results indicate that the available rooftop area can accommodate the number of modules required to build the proposed plant with appropriate spacing.