Technical and Economic Analysis of Solar Energy Powered Lighting System in a Smart Building at Tropical Region

Nowadays, commercial building sector as one of the major contributors of energy consumption, is seeking for ways to achieve energy efficiency. In particular, solar energy generation system is a feasible option especially in the tropical region due to adequate sunshine hours. This study aims to investigate the technical and economic aspects of a solar energy system installation at a smart commercial building in Malaysia, where the building's lighting system is fully supported by solar energy and its operation managed via an intelligent building automation system. A case study is performed to determine how the installation can contribute towards the energy savings and to determine the return on investment (ROI). The analysis outcome indicates that 50% of energy savings can be achieved for the lighting system that is fully supported by solar generated energy, which translates to a 0.56 Tons of CO2 reduction. The ROI of the installation is 11.13 years. In conclusion, solar energy generation system is deemed suitable for the reduction of energy consumption in the tropical region. Some indication of future works is also briefly discussed.