Viability study of PV panels anchored on a building wall in the city of Astana, Kazakhstan

The paper aims to popularize green energy technology by proposing the way of easy integration in urban environment. Integration of PV in urban environment is a promising technology that can lead to a construction of Zero or nearly Zero Energy Buildings. However, PV installation in an urban environment is followed by difficulties such as lack of space, severe climate exposure and aesthetic implementation. The most recent and relevant solution is Building Integrated PV (BIPV), which is an installation of PV on building façades with an appropriate aesthetics contributing to the urban environmental impression of passers-by. In addition, it is known that in working with renewables, financial feasibility is of major importance. BIPV cladding can substitute building material, which implies good savings. The government of Kazakhstan aims for the share of renewable energy in domestic electricity generation to rise to 30% by 2030 and 50% by 2050. Therefore, this investigation aims to determine the techno-economic potential of BIPV on façades of high-rise buildings in the city of Astana. As a case study, a student dormitory building of Nazarbayev University is considered. The paper concludes that the current FIT of 99USD/MWh for solar energy in Kazakhstan is too low to get favorable Benefit to Cost (BC) ratio. However, an increase in FIT to 115USD/MWh would lead BC ratio greater than 1 that implies that the new project could be profitable. Furthermore, increasing the current FIT by 60%, would lead to very attractive equity payback period. In addition, anchoring the panel in 30-degree angle would increase the rate of solar irradiance captured, that consequently leads us to acceptable BC ratio. This thesis project proposes a simple, but effective way to mount PV units on a flat building wall at 30-degree angle inclined position