The research Proposal in brief

The vast amount of roof area on the campus of Texas A&M university, with more than 40 acres’ usable space, provides a great opportunity for installing devices that can generate electricity from renewable energy sources. By installing solar panels (PV panels) of 20% efficiency the produced electricity can be used to reduce the grid-tied energy usage intensity of the campus buildings (EUI), or recharge the electric vehicles (EV) on campus. There will be four steps for implementing the project including 1-appropriate site selection based on the campus master plan and its impact on the university’s community 2-simulation and cost calculation 3-installation through one to two months of on-site work and supervision 4-post evaluation of the project by measuring the produced electricity/reduced grid-tied energy over the length of a year. The current project has a focus on the roof area of Langford Architecture Building to exemplify its feasibility and benefit for the whole campus in the future. By installing roof-mounted PV panels, this project aims at reducing the amount of energy required from the plant, particularly during the peak demand time (10 AM-15 PM) on campus. As such, the objectives of the research include: 1) reducing the required energy from the central plant for the campus buildings, 2) providing more spaces/opportunities for recharging electrical cars’ batteries on campus, particularly service cars, and 3) providing an exemplary application of renewable energy as an educational tool for outreach to students and faculty in related disciplines. Additionally, the project can bring other benefits to the community by reducing the amount of carbon emission resulting from the use of fossil fuels. My thanks go to the Aggie Green Fund Grant Organization for accepting my proposal and funding this project.

Estimated Ecological Savings

CO2 conserved (tons/month): 1.56

Electricity conserved (kW/month): 1892

Water conserved (gal/month): 37953

Gasoline saved (gal/month): 158.7

Equivalent recycled waste (tons/month): 4.91

Coal avoided to be burned (lbs./month): 1515.77

Reduced auto miles per month: 3111

Trees saved/month: 36