Energy Payback Analysis of Building Integrated Photovoltaic of High-rise Buildings in Urban Areas

Abstract

As urbanization increases, the building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system is featuring many advantages along with energy generation, while also raising concerns about the overall returns of capital investments. The PV panel integration system into buildings is becoming increasingly popular as a fast-growing system of producing electrical energy that can be used to partially meet the energy requirements of buildings in urban areas as well as be economically feasible for urban areas. The analytical study of the energy payback period of the BIPV system indicates the economic feasibility of such a system. This study on energy payback analysis is conducted in one of the academic buildings of Brac University, Dhaka, Bangladesh that demonstrates an economic evaluation process that shows the return of the initial investment within the lifespan of the BIPV system. The study consists of the calculation of initial investment along with the operation and maintenance cost for the lifespan of 20 years for the BIPV system. While evaluating the payback period, various external influential factors such as discount rate and electricity tariff rate were considered. The result of the evaluation indicated the payback time is 3.647 years after the integration of the BIPV system into a highrise building whereas the rate of internal return is 38.050%. It is also observed from the result analysis that in the 4th year of the BIPV integration, an economic return of 7,915.37 USD is achieved which indicates the energy generation system can be a source of income as well. Focusing on the economical feasibility, the end of this study finds out the financial benefit of the BIPV system for urban areas.