A pilot study for a possible installation of Photovoltaic modules at The University of Havana : Bachelor's thesis in a field study in Havana, Cuba

Abstract: In 2014 the Cuban government announced that 24% of the country’s generated electricity will come from renewable energy sources by 2030. In Cuba the emissions have drastically risen over the past decade due to the increasing amount of electricity demand. Today most of the generated electricity is produced by burning oil. To achieve this goal before 2030 major investments in renewable energy will be required. There is also a big concern in Cuba about climate change, as Cuba’s geographical position is very vulnerable to drastic weather changes. This drive efforts towards a more sustainable society, in addition to the economic aspect of being independent of imported oil.   The objective of the study is to evaluate the economical, ecological and social profitability of PV systems in Cuba. The main purpose will consist of making economic and technical calculations using the software Matlab (version R2016a) for the installation of the PV system on the building most suitable at The University of Havana. The study will consider both a PV system with and without energy storage. The PV module that will be investigated in this study is the crystalline silicone cells, since this is the most common used in PV system in Cuba. This is to enable for the university to become partly or completely independent from the electricity generated by the government owned electricity company (UNE). It is important for the university to become independent from the national electricity grid due to the high number of power-cuts and since the electricity company in Cuba regulates how much electricity that can be consumed each month. The project will consider both economic, ecological and social aspects to find the best solution for the installation of PV system at The University of Havana.   The study showed that the most suitable building for a PV system installation is the building of Institute of Science and Technology of Materials. All three orientations examined in this study cover the electricity consumption during an average day and can work as a backup system. The result concluded that the most economical and optimized installation, taking into account the desired function of the PV system for the building of IMRE is an incline angle of 20°, 270 number of installed PV modules and an orientation towards south if installing a PV system with energy storage. The excess electricity from the PV system has assumed to be used for recharging the battery or sold back to the grid for same price as the private PV companies sell electricity for, 0,06-0,07 USD/kWh. It was concluded that the cost of generated electricity from a PV system installed at The University of Havana is 5,5-32,5 % cheaper with battery and without battery the cost is 47,8-62,7 % cheaper than current price of generated electricity at 0,15-0,21 USD/kWh. The result from this study complements other studies done and validates that also smaller PV systems are economical profitable in Cuba. This study has shown that it is economic, ecological and social profitable to install a PV system at The University of Havana.