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HELP! Calculating energy consumption of my project
Hi all!
I am a master student and I am now working on a technical report of my project. I have to estimate the energy consumption in my building in order to establish how many solar panels are needed as part of my sustainable agenda.
I have look through some methods of energy estimation online. But all of them are not very clear in how to actually do it.
Do you guys have any experience or suggestions on this? It is a public buildings including programs such as sauna rooms, tea rooms and spa pool.
Thanks!
Kelvin
As a reference. We have contracted (355) 320 watt solar panels for a 30,000 sq.ft. building. The project is in FL and the panels were calculated to provide basically all of the building's electrical use.
Thank you!
I get the feeling your professor may not be wanting exact numbers. They probably think you're not estimating closely enough and want you to analyze your project more.
https://www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial/building-type-definitions.php#Education
That site has some survey information about energy use based on building type. I'd probably use that to develop a per square foot energy usage and go from there.
Thank you!
Figure out how many outlets you have, their power output; figure out how many lights you have and their output; take the code prescribed value for CFM required in different types of spaces and calculate the total volume of the spaces you uave in your project in order to calculate the total CFM output you need. Select a system that yields that output and then find its energy requirements.
The sum of all lighting, HVAC, and power has to be at least equal to to the power output of the solar panels. Find how much power is produced by one solar panel. Divide your required power by the power output of one solar panel. Round to next whole number for quantity of solar panels.
Thank you!
FYI- that was an extremely simplistic way of looking at things. An MEP engineer would calculate air leakage rates etc and calculate the mixing of air in different spaces to come up with a way more accurate number in order to size the system. I was trying to make your life simpler for a student...
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