Innovative approach in designing of a new business and shopping center

The International Conference on Renewable Energy (ICRE)

Damascus, 05 08 April 2010

Syrian Arab Republic

O. Zavalani, P. Marango and J. Kaani

Polytechnic University of Tirana
Sheshi Nene Tereza, Nr.4, Albania

CONTENT
I. II. INTRODUCTION PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM

III. SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM OF THE BUILDING

IV. INTELLIGENT BUILDING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (IBMS)

V. CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

Innovative approach in designing of a new business and shopping center

ELECTRICITY IN ALBANIA
Albania is facing with difficulty to supply its consumers with electricity. Some of these difficulties are: Lack of primary energy sources No network and gas resources Limited production and interconnection capacities Full dependence of its power production on hydro resources

Result:
Albania is one of net importer countries in the region.

I.- INTRODUCTION

ELECTRICITY IN ALBANIA
Based on the conclusions of a field survey done in 2008 from an independent consulting evaluator, the end consumers have experienced a lot of power outages and voltage fluctuations.

Result:
over 80% of the companies use diesel power generators

Result:
negative impact in environment and an increasing cost of productions and services
I.- INTRODUCTION

ELECTRICITY IN ALBANIA
To over pass the situation we believe that new energy supply technologies, including renewable and low carbon energy technologies, have great potential to fulfill energy needs of the country and reduce carbon emissions. The wide range of energy recourses of the country exhibit diverse and complex characteristics. It is not clear what is their respective potential contribution in developing country economy, and which should be prioritized.

There is an important need for deep studies to assess these potentials.

I.- INTRODUCTION

Renewable Energy Resources

Albania has significant potentials in RE resources: Hydro, Wind, Geothermal, Biomass and Solar Energy. The contribution of the renewable energy sources in country energy consumption is summarized in the table below

Unless that near 97% of the electricity domestically produced is generated by hydropower plants, the country has exploited only 35 % of its total hydropower potential.

I.- INTRODUCTION

Innovative Approach
A.- Use of Renewable sources. 1.- Building Integrated Photo Voltaic
Photo Voltaic shall be part of the distributed generation (DG) system of the building supply together with local utility supply, generators and electricity storage systems.

2.- Geothermal
Geothermal shall be used for HVAC system.

B.- Use of DC in the building distribution system.

The idea of using RE sources, DG supply system and DC in the distribution system of the building presents a revolutionary approach in Albania, not only from technological point of view but also as a new business model and functionality of electricity distribution.

24-floor business and shopping center in Tirana

I.- INTRODUCTION

Technical Data
A.- The PV system shall be installed in:
1.- South Faade near 2000m2 (Building Integrated Photo Voltaic). 2.- Terrace near 1000m2.

B.- Construction of Building Integrated Photo Voltaic

1.- Building Integrated Photo Voltaic material shall become an integral part of the building envelope offering to the architect's imagination colorful and visually arresting. 2.- Brisole shelters of the south faade shall be part of PV system as well.

C.- Other characteristics of Building Integrated Photo Voltaic :

1.- The Building Integrated Photo Voltaic structure shall act also as a thermal insulation layer due to its sandwich construction reducing heating costs and keeping the building at an ambient temperature. 2.- The Building Integrated Photo Voltaic structure Modules shall protect the building against the weather, giving shade from the sun as well as protection from wind and rain. 3.- Being an electrical resistor, they also shall be part of the lightning protection system of the building.

II.- PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM

Technical Data
A.- Power of PV system:
PV system maximum power : 360kW. PV Cell Type: Single - or polycrystalline silicon PV Efficiency: 10% or greater

B.- Energy of PV system:

Accepting an average solar radiation per year of 1 500 kWh/m2/yr, we expect to arrive at 300.000 to 400.000 kWh/year.

C.- Way of connection of PV system

It is obligatory to work in an off-grid mode because until now country legislation does not allow the connection of stand-alone solar systems in the grid.

Cost
The costs of PV system exceed 6 .Wp-1 showing poor economic advantage if not supported by public incentive.
a.- The cost of conventional building materials is subtracted from the initial cost of a BIPV system. b.- The cost calculation does not include the profit from avoiding CO2 damage in environment.

The unit production cost was estimated at 0,19 /kWh II.- PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM

Government supply
The project is expected to be included in a subsidy program financed by the government for RE projects, which aims at supporting the development of RE generation sources in general and photovoltaic electricity generation ventures and commercialization of PV technology in particular.

The program is based on a new law for RE sources that is expected to be approved very soon. It aims to significantly contribute to the attainment of environmental benefits resulting from development of RE energy sources in the country, which have both local and European dimensions.

In the context of the expected EU membership of Albania, the increased share of RE sources will contribute to the country compliance with the Kyoto Protocol and other EU obligations.

II.- PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM

Methodology
The design of supply and distribution system of the building is realized in conditions where the Local Electrical Utility cannot guarantee a sufficient supply and power outages and voltage fluctuations are expected to be evident during the exploitation of the facility. This fact guide the designing team to consider the following alternative energy sources to secure independence from the city grid and to satisfy reliability standard:
1.- PV system 2.- Geothermal 3.- Diesel generators 4.- Conventional battery storage

The adopted solution presents a typical distribution generation (DG) supply system with renewable energy (RE) sources. To manage it and achieve an efficient exploitation of available energy, an Intelligent Building Management System (IBMS) is foreseen. The consumers of the building have been separated in two groups: 1.- HVAC and AC motor appliances loads 2.- Other users: PC-s, lighting, fire detection system, access control system, public announcement and evacuation system, CCTV system and Intelligent Building Management System which are considered privileged users which need continuous and sustainable supply.

III.- SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM OF THE BUILDING

HVAC and AC motor appliances supply

HVAC system presents 47.8% of the total electrical load of the building. To reduce this load a geothermal heat pumping (GHP) system is foreseen in the design. The selected GHP is expected to use 40% less electricity than conventional HVAC. The supply of HVAC and AC motors and appliances (such as water pumps, firefighting pumps etc.) is foreseen to be supplied by a dedicated transformer with a local back up diesel generator.

III.- SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM OF THE BUILDING

Supply of privileged users

Privileged users are foreseen to be supplied by a DG system and DC voltage distribution network, which shall work independently from the AC network dedicated for HVAC and AC motor appliances.
The supply system is foreseen to be governed remotely from the Intelligent Building Management System (IBMS) of the building.

III.- SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM OF THE BUILDING

DC supply and distribution in building facilities

There is great potential to boost efficiency and increase building power supply system stability through the use of low voltage DC for distribution network.

Benefits 1.- DC achieves higher efficiency than AC when used for distribution in RE generation systems 2.- DC systems are more reliable due to the need for inbuilt electricity storage . 3.- DC system has higher transmission capacity than traditional AC system resulting from the voltage difference between the systems as EC Low Voltage Directive defines, which reduce distribution system costs. 4.- DC distribution system improves voltage quality resulting from inverters active voltage control. 5.- DC system provides a ready to use platform for Intelligent Building Management System.
DC distribution system introduces also challenges compare to AC distribution system. The DC distribution system is more complex than traditional AC distribution system which makes system operation more difficult. It introduces also challenges for electrical safety. III.- SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM OF THE BUILDING

Our case using DC

Benefits 1.- Energy efficiency of the building is expected to be improved 15.6% by using DC instead of AC system. 4% of the improvement shall be achieved in reduction of distribution power losses and 11.6% due to minimization of the number of conversions in electrical substation of the building. Since the supply system shall use only two AC-DC converters, we can choose the best quality converts (ex. IGBT based converters) to increase efficiency. A good quality converter with a proper control reduce the impact in AC city grid, by lowering the harmonic content, which present also a cost saving. 2.- The cost of cabling in the building shall be reduced at least 30%. 3.- Efficiency improvement of equipment used in the building is expected to be improved by 15% for office system equipment and 22% from the internal lighting system, assuming the reduction of typical 500kVA AC-DC-AC UPS-es of PC-s, 58W AC-DC-AC converters of emergency lighting systems appliances and removal of typical 36/58W ballasts of fluorescent lighting appliances which shall be replaced with LED lighting appliances.

III.- SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM OF THE BUILDING

Our case using DC

Benefits 4.- DC distribution system presents a safer system compare to AC because it is not as dangerous for human body as the AC voltage. A completely safe system may be realized by choosing correctly the protection system. The DC distribution system can be made with ungrounded IT system or grounded TN system. In our design we have applied ungrounded bipolar DC distribution system with the ground arrangement: shown in figure. 5.- DC distribution system presents a safer system compare to AC for installed electrical and electronic devices and equipments too. Application of DC system reduces voltage fluctuations at the customers end and the operating voltage can be kept nearly constant. Another advantage is the fact that DC system reduces magnetic fields

III.- SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM OF THE BUILDING

Our case using DC

DC distribution introduces also challenges compare to AC distribution 1.- DC distribution is more complex than traditional AC distribution system. 2.- DC system can cause high earth voltages in difficult grounding conditions which may require the application of ungrounded IT system. 3.- The power electronic converter usage can cause switch faults and complicate protection device operations. 4.- Converters lifetime is shorter than in the case of the traditional AC network equipments (only a quarter than traditional ones). 5.- Asymmetric loading of the bipolar DC system has significant impact on system losses and thus shall be evaluated carefully. 6.- The implementation of DC system introduces challenges in reviewing of existing standards, norms and code of practice to include all necessary requirements and rules for a correct and safe installation.

III.- SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM OF THE BUILDING

Our case using DC

Technical functionalities set for development of DC distribution system are:
a.- Rated DC voltage: 1500 VDC or 750 VDC (bipolar), pulsation: max 10 % b.- DC voltage fluctuation in normal operation -25 % - +10 % c.- Customer AC voltage in normal operation 230 VAC 0% 50 Hz 0.1Hz d.- Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) Ucust and THD Icust: 5 % e.- Converter energy efficiency 98 % toward 95 % achieved.

III.- SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM OF THE BUILDING

IBMS
IBMS through different scenarios make use of optimized control schemes for the performance of the DG supply system and all engineering systems of the building increasing efficiency and reliability. Improvements in energy efficiency contribute also to environmental protection. IBMS is designed to provide access to building operators for all building engineering systems in a centralized monitoring and control center. This allows abnormal or faulty conditions to be detected, localized and corrected at an early stage and with minimum personnel effort. Direct access to IBMS data from the high management level eases data acquisition for facility management tasks such as cost allocation and accounting. Besides the immediate savings, indirect benefits are expected due to higher expected workforce productivity or by the increased perceived value of the automated building (the prestige factor, for both building owner and tenant).

IV.- INTELLIGENT BUILDING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (IBMS)

CONCLUSION
In the last years Albanian Electrical Utility is facing difficulties to supply its consumers with electricity. Due to this fact, the use of local generating units is grown rapidly to ensure power reliability and quality. All local generating units are diesel power generators with negative impact in environment, unless the fact that the country has significant RE resource potential. In this paper is presented a new approach for the designing of large buildings, which satisfy the requests for reliability and quality of power supply by using the available RE sources, DG power supply and DC distribution network inside building. This approach offers great potentials to boost efficiency and increase power supply system stability and reliability. Details for the implementation of this approach in a 24 floor business and shopping center building in Tirana have been presented.

IV.- CONCLUSION

THANK YOU!