Integrated evaluation of a photovoltaic installation

This paper describes the design and evaluation of a grid-tied photovoltaic (PV) system to be placed over the existing visitor center skylight for the Independence National Park in Philadelphia, Pa. using an integrated approach. The approach included calibrated building energy and lighting models (sensors and computational), estimation of the PV power produced, and cost taking into consideration the reduction based on cooling energy and emissions avoided by the displacement of purchased electricity (the mix of generating technologies in the local power control area was used to estimate avoided emissions). The design of the PV system was guided by the building orientation and skylight construction and was based on currently available PV modules. Several array sizes were considered since the choice of array size has implications for power production and shading, as well as for building cooling energy demand.