Solar energy for cooling needs in commercial building

Buildings in Singapore are one of the major electricity consumers, hence, as well as a contributor of carbon footprint. Most of the electricity consumed by air conditioning equipment which is essential in providing thermal comfort (cooling) in the hot and humid climate region. As Singapore progressively pushes itself to decrease the nation’s carbon footprint, studies looking into the feasibility of using solar PV system as the alternative energy source for the central cooling system of normal commercial building is carried out. In this study, a typical 8-storey office building cooling demand is estimated and used as the base data for the analysis for the demand and roof top BIPV system as the supply. A parametric study of the system is then performed though the aspects of power, cost, environmental and relevant government requirements. As the results shown, the roof top BIPV system would yield 42.8% of the Chiller energy demand and the CO2 emission reduction would be 75,685 KG annually with an expected net saving of 1.4 million SGD from the electricity bill over the designed life span.Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering