Solar cells on municipal type properties : A detailed study of municipal properties in Forshaga municipalit

The expansion of photovoltaic plants has increased significantly within the EU and in Sweden, where a contributing cause has been a higher environmental thinking and lower prices for solar cell installations. Interest in installing solar cells has increased in society as a whole and an increasing number of municipalities are interested in solar cells. One of these municipalities is Forshaga municipality, which strives to be climate neutral until 2030. This study examined whether a number of selected municipal properties in the Forshaga municipality were suitable for installing solar cells based on the degree of self-use and the degree of self-sufficiency and the electricity cost of produced electricity (LCOE - Levelized cost of energy). The study also examined whether these selected properties would be suitable for solar cells if certain conditions were changed to simulate that they were located in another location with different conditions. Of the properties included in the study, there was a care home, two schools, Forshaga municipal house, a wastewater treatment plant and a waterplant. Of the examined municipal properties, a school, the nursing home and the municipal house were considered most suitable for solar cells based on the above criteria. The property that was considered most suitable was the Grossbolskolan which was the smaller of the two schools. Grossbolskolan had a self-utilization rate and a self-sufficiency rate of 87 and 15 percent respectively and the lowest cost for the produced electricity by about 0.88 SEK/kWh. The municipal house and the care home had a slightly higher production cost for the produced electricity. Some conclusions could be drawn from the part of the study that examined whether the properties were suitable for mounting solar cells if they had been placed in another location with other conditions. One conclusion was that the properties should have a similar electricity consumption as the investigated properties in this study, with a higher electricity consumption daytime when the solar cells produce the most to obtain a high self-use. The degree of selfuse was highest for the plants that were located in the east / west direction, which indicates that the electricity consumption in these type properties was more suitable for solar cell installations whose production is more widespread throughout the day. In order for the repayment period not to exceed the assumed life expectancy of the solar cell plant of 25 years, the self-use rate should not be less than 50 to 60 percent. Finally, the study also found that the properties recommended as suitable had between 1 - 3.5 m2 solar cells / MWh annual electricity use in the property, which can be used as a guideline value to see if the property is suitable for solar cells. If this value were lower, the self-sufficiency rate was low, if it was greater, the self-utilization rate was low.