Feasibility of Installing Solar PV Parking Canopies with Electric Vehicle Charging Stations on ISU's Parking Garages

Publication Date

4-6-2018

Document Type

Poster

Department

Technology

Mentor

Jin Jo

Mentor Department

Technology

Abstract

The need for clean energy production is increasing due to our society’s high energy consumption, decreasing fossil fuel reserves, and growing environmental issues. Implementation of renewable energy systems on campus would best represent the university’s values in sustainability. In our research, we analyzed three possible locations to determine the feasibility of installing parking canopies coupled with solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and electric vehicle (EV) charging. We studied the trend and growing demand towards electric vehicles. We examined different solar panels and mounts to find the most optimal combination for our study. Through our field studies and use of simulation tools we were able to obtain estimations of both the costs, the energy production of the systems, and carbon emissions saved. As a result of our above research we selected three viable locations to offer PV-EV parking canopies. We performed cost-benefit analysis at each location to provide useful energy production and financial data to determine the optimal location. With our findings, the implications will be that we can present our research to the university who will be able to see if and where solar PV canopies are feasible on campus using parking garage space. The implementation of solar PV and EV charging stations combined gives the university the ability to implement clean, renewable energy in order to show their commitment to sustainability as well as promoting students, commuters and faculty to switch from gas powered vehicles to EV.

Comments

Ward-undergraduate, Flahaven-undergraduate, Kelly-undergraduate, Bushur-undergraduate

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