Agricultural Research and Development Center Design with Building Integrated Photovoltaics in Fiji

Abstract

Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs) entail the use of photovoltaics as building materials, such as windows, roofs, and walls. Owing to their electricity-generation ability, BIPVs have become popular building materials for green buildings. This study involves an economic feasibility analysis of BIPVs for an agricultural research and development center in Fiji. The computerized relative allocation of facilities technique (CRAFT) is extended for cost-efficient facility design, and the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of BIPVs is evaluated to identify feasible alternatives from among three options, namely roof-integrated, window, and rooftop BIPVs. From the experiments, the LCOE values of the roof-integrated, window, and rooftop BIPVs were USD 0.13/kWh, 0.17/kWh, and 0.09/kWh, respectively. Moreover, the profit for the window BIPV was negative when the discount rate was greater than 0.08 due to its inefficient productivity. Contrarily, the roof-integrated BIPV showed a reasonable LCOE even though it required the highest investment cost. Nevertheless, further efforts are needed to reduce the cost of BIPVs for practical implementation.