IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v14y2021i22p7615-d679273.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Case Study on a Stochastic-Based Optimisation Approach towards the Integration of Photovoltaic Panels in Multi-Residential Social Housing

Author

Listed:
  • Rui Oliveira

    (Research Center for Risks and Sustainability in Construction—RISCO, Department of Civil Engineering, Campus Universitário de Santiago, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal)

  • Ricardo M.S.F. Almeida

    (Department of Civil Engineering, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, Campus Politécnico de Repeses, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
    CONSTRUCT-LFC, Faculty of Engineering—FEUP, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias s/n, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal)

  • António Figueiredo

    (Research Center for Risks and Sustainability in Construction—RISCO, Department of Civil Engineering, Campus Universitário de Santiago, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal)

  • Romeu Vicente

    (Research Center for Risks and Sustainability in Construction—RISCO, Department of Civil Engineering, Campus Universitário de Santiago, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal)

Abstract

The socioeconomic reality and the energy retrofit potential of the social housing neighbourhoods in Portugal are stimulating challenges to be addressed by research to pursue suitable energy efficient strategies to be integrated into these buildings. Therefore, this study explored a stochastic-based optimisation approach towards the integration of photovoltaic (PV) panels, considering different scenarios that combine the occupancy rate, the internal gains, the envelope refurbishment and the heating system efficiency. The optimisation approach has as its objective the minimisation of the life cycle cost of the photovoltaic system while using a limited space area on the rooftop for its installation. This study allowed concluding that the use of passive measures such as improving the thermal performance of the building envelope is essential to attain a lower optimal-sizing of a photovoltaic installation. The results reveal a decreasing trend in the PV optimal sizing, attaining a reduction up to 30% of the total number of PV panels installed on the sloped rooftop in several scenarios with 50% of occupancy rate. However, the impact can be greater when passive measures are coupled to more efficient heating systems, with higher COP, which result in a decrease up to 64% of the number of PV panels. Thus, the approach proposed is of paramount importance to aid in the decision-making process of design and sizing of photovoltaic installation, highlighting the practical application potential for social housing and a contribution for mitigation of the energy poverty of low-income families that live in these buildings.

Suggested Citation

  • Rui Oliveira & Ricardo M.S.F. Almeida & António Figueiredo & Romeu Vicente, 2021. "A Case Study on a Stochastic-Based Optimisation Approach towards the Integration of Photovoltaic Panels in Multi-Residential Social Housing," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-16, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:22:p:7615-:d:679273
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/22/7615/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/22/7615/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Katerina Sojkova & Martin Volf & Antonin Lupisek & Roman Bolliger & Tomas Vachal, 2019. "Selection of Favourable Concept of Energy Retrofitting Solution for Social Housing in the Czech Republic Based on Economic Parameters, Greenhouse Gases, and Primary Energy Consumption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-26, November.
    2. McCabe, Annie & Pojani, Dorina & van Groenou, Anthony Broese, 2018. "The application of renewable energy to social housing: A systematic review," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 549-557.
    3. Escandón, Rocío & Suárez, Rafael & Sendra, Juan José, 2019. "Field assessment of thermal comfort conditions and energy performance of social housing: The case of hot summers in the Mediterranean climate," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 377-392.
    4. Bianca Seabra & Pedro F. Pereira & Helena Corvacho & Carla Pires & Nuno M. M. Ramos, 2021. "Low Energy Renovation of Social Housing: Recommendations on Monitoring and Renewable Energies Use," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-23, March.
    5. Federica Rosso & Arianna Peduzzi & Lorenzo Diana & Stefano Cascone & Carlo Cecere, 2021. "A Sustainable Approach towards the Retrofit of the Public Housing Building Stock: Energy-Architectural Experimental and Numerical Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-19, March.
    6. Rui Oliveira & Romeu Vicente & Ricardo M. S. F. Almeida & António Figueiredo, 2021. "The Importance of In Situ Characterisation for the Mitigation of Poor Indoor Environmental Conditions in Social Housing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-22, September.
    7. Manuela Almeida & Ricardo Barbosa & Raphaele Malheiro, 2020. "Effect of Embodied Energy on Cost-Effectiveness of a Prefabricated Modular Solution on Renovation Scenarios in Social Housing in Porto, Portugal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-17, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cylon Liaw & Vitória Elisa da Silva & Rebecca Maduro & Milena Megrè & Julio Cesar de Souza Inácio Gonçalves & Edmilson Moutinho dos Santos & Dominique Mouette, 2023. "Thermal Comfort Analysis Using System Dynamics Modeling—A Sustainable Scenario Proposition for Low-Income Housing in Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-20, March.
    2. Darija Gajić & Slobodan Peulić & Tim Mavrič & Anna Sandak & Črtomir Tavzes & Milica Malešević & Mladen Slijepčević, 2021. "Energy Retrofitting Opportunities Using Renewable Materials—Comparative Analysis of the Current Frameworks in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Slovenia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-19, January.
    3. Nathanael Ojong, 2022. "Fostering Human Wellbeing in Africa through Solar Home Systems: A Systematic and a Critical Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-15, July.
    4. Mahesti Okitasari & Ranjeeta Mishra & Masachika Suzuki, 2022. "Socio-Economic Drivers of Community Acceptance of Sustainable Social Housing: Evidence from Mumbai," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-17, July.
    5. Michelle A. Ruíz & Yazmin L. Mack-Vergara, 2023. "Resilient and Sustainable Housing Models against Climate Change: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-14, September.
    6. Coline Senior & Alenka Temeljotov Salaj & Milena Vukmirovic & Mina Jowkar & Živa Kristl, 2021. "The Spirit of Time—The Art of Self-Renovation to Improve Indoor Environment in Cultural Heritage Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-27, July.
    7. Marcelle Engler Bridi & Joao Soliman-Junior & Ariovaldo Denis Granja & Patricia Tzortzopoulos & Vanessa Gomes & Doris Catharine Cornelie Knatz Kowaltowski, 2022. "Living Labs in Social Housing Upgrades: Process, Challenges and Recommendations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-18, February.
    8. Wojciech J. Florkowski & Joanna Rakowska, 2022. "Review of Regional Renewable Energy Investment Projects: The Example of EU Cohesion Funds Dispersal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-23, December.
    9. Jaromir Vrbka & Tomas Krulicky & Tomas Brabenec & Jan Hejda, 2020. "Determining the Increase in a Building’s Appreciation Rate Due to a Reconstruction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-13, September.
    10. Lorenzo Diana & Saverio D’Auria & Giovanna Acampa & Giorgia Marino, 2022. "Assessment of Disused Public Buildings: Strategies and Tools for Reuse of Healthcare Structures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-25, February.
    11. Carol Vigurs & Chris Maidment & Michael Fell & David Shipworth, 2021. "Customer Privacy Concerns as a Barrier to Sharing Data about Energy Use in Smart Local Energy Systems: A Rapid Realist Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-33, February.
    12. Alkistis E. Kanteraki & Grigorios L. Kyriakopoulos & Miltiadis Zamparas & Vasilis C. Kapsalis & Sofoklis S. Makridis & Giouli Mihalakakou, 2020. "Investigating Thermal Performance of Residential Buildings in Marmari Region, South Evia, Greece," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-22, February.
    13. Pantelis N. Botsaris & Paraskevi Giourka & Adamantios Papatsounis & Paraskevi Dimitriadou & Nerea Goitia-Zabaleta & Christos Patsonakis, 2021. "Developing a Business Case for a Renewable Energy Community in a Public Housing Settlement in Greece—The Case of a Student Housing and Its Challenges, Prospects and Barriers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-15, March.
    14. Liao, Chuan & Erbaugh, James T. & Kelly, Allison C. & Agrawal, Arun, 2021. "Clean energy transitions and human well-being outcomes in Lower and Middle Income Countries: A systematic review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    15. Shaw-Williams, Damian & Susilawati, Connie, 2020. "A techno-economic evaluation of Virtual Net Metering for the Australian community housing sector," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    16. Wim Van Opstal & Anse Smeets, 2022. "Market-Specific Barriers and Enablers for Organizational Investments in Solar PV—Lessons from Flanders," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-26, October.
    17. Thi Tuyet Hong VU & Benoit DELINCHANT & Anh Tuan PHAN & Van Cong BUI & Dinh Quang NGUYEN, 2022. "A Practical Approach to Launch the Low-Cost Monitoring Platforms for Nearly Net-Zero Energy Buildings in Vietnam," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-19, July.
    18. Zhou Li & Jiahui Diao & Shaoming Lu & Cong Tao & Jonathan Krauth, 2022. "Exploring a Sustainable Approach to Vernacular Dwelling Spaces with a Multiple Evidence Base Method: A Case Study of the Bai People’s Courtyard Houses in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-26, March.
    19. Joanna Rakowska & Mariusz Maciejczak & Iwona M. Batyk & Eliza Farelnik, 2022. "Rural–Urban Differences in Solar Renewable Energy Investments Supported by Public Finance in Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-19, November.
    20. Lise Desvallées, 2022. "Low-carbon retrofits in social housing: Energy efficiency, multidimensional energy poverty, and domestic comfort strategies in southern Europe [Social housing providers have a significant amount of," Post-Print hal-03456394, HAL.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:22:p:7615-:d:679273. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.