Document Type

Article

Abstract

This presents projected costs and benefits of a carport style photovoltaic (PV) solar energy system, as well as its potential implementation sited in the City of Arlington. The goal was to estimate the amount of electricity generated from converting the existing sites into PV solar parking lots by assessing spatial, locational, and quantitative analysis, utilizing the available data, tools, and techniques in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Google Earth Pro. This study applied data from currently installed and active solar energy systems to meet the goal of this study. The findings showed the City of Arlington could generate 218,403 MWh/year, which is equivalent to the benefit of $63,467 per year, and the cost of projected total average solar PC system installation was $429,227,781. These projections were based on the commonly used 15.7% solar panel efficiency. With the technological developments in solar PV efficiency, it is likely that electricity produced would exceed the current estimate, leading to even greater benefits of such initiatives.

Disciplines

Architecture | Urban, Community and Regional Planning

Publication Date

12-1-2013

Language

English

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