Track: Modeling and Simulation

Abstract

The renewable energy industry in the United States is growing at record rates. In the last decade, more renewable energy has grown in terms of capacity as well as demand because of the population growth and the need for environmentally friendly energy resources. Solar energy is one of the most promising renewable energy sources in Texas because of the climate and solar resource potential. With the continuous growth and advances in the industry, homeowners can install solar rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems for electricity generation instead of relying on the power grid. While the environmental benefits of solar energy are of importance and urgency, the economic benefits for homeowners are still to be determined. This research represents an economic assessment of a 7-kW residential rooftop solar system with a 3kW/6kW storage bank, in the state of Texas based on economic parameters such as the internal rate of return (IRR), the payback period (PP), and the net present value (NPV). These rooftop PV systems are installed on single-family residences and is economically beneficial in the state of Texas. These systems resulted in an NPV of $6333.01, IRR of 8.61%, PP of 13 years, which is an economic benefit to Texas homeowners.

Keywords
Residential Solar Panels, Energy Savings, Internal Rate of Return, Payback period, Net Present Value.