1. AS3-W2E filiale d’E4U SAS au capital de 17 501 000 € – 11, Avenue Marc Sangnier – 92398 – VILLENEUVE-LA GARENNE CEDEX – France
RCS 808 647 028 Nanterre. TEL +33 680 787 967 – FAX +33 175 540 152 www.energy-4u.com
Pépinière d’entreprises
Environmental Impact of CO2: Feasibility study
Example of Villeneuve-la-Garenne’s House of Enterprises Solar Self-consumption Project (92) by AS3
The feasibility study presented in this
document aims to provide the first technical
and financial elements to determine whether
or not the suggested project has an
environmental impact.
Description of the study case
“House of Enterprises” of Villeneuve-la-Garenne (92) is located at
11 Avenue Marc Sangnier and hosts, to date, 23 companies with a
total of 120 staffs. The building dates from 1990 and occupies an
area of 1 830m² over 3 floors (G+2).
Geographical data
- Latitude: 48.5°N
- Longitude: 2.2°E
- Altitude : 24m
Power consumption analysis
House of Enterprise’s site represents an annual average
consumption close to 154 MWh, being charged to more than 20
K€. Once dividing by the total area of the building, the energy
consumption per square
meter of built area is
about 84 kWh / (m².yr)
far exceeding the
thresholds authorized by
the thermal regulations
(50 kWh / (m².yr) - RT
2012).
The consumption seriously climbs in winter, due to the use of
electrical power for space heating. This overuse reveals thermal
insulation of the building.
The property has subscribed
to EDF yellow rate (pricing)
long use (LU) option including
a fixed premium depending
on the power contracted (kVA
78 in our case) and the price
of kWh consumed varying
according to time of day and
season of the year.
Over 75% of consumption is held during on-peak periods
coinciding to a large extent with sunny hours.
Principle of solar self-consumption
By definition, it is to consume all or part of its own photovoltaic
production to meet its energy requirements. The self-
consumption rate refers to the share of solar electricity consumed
locally. In contrast, the coverage or self-production stands for the
share of electricity
consumption that is
produced locally and not
imported from the utility
grid.
Characterization of Photovoltaic facility
The PV system designed for “House of Enterprises” consists of
high-performance modules available on the market (+ 23% yield)
and divided into two fields located on the south and west sides of
the roof.
FLD.1
Collector area: 140 m²
Power installed: 18 kWc
Azimuth: -95°, tilt: 30°
FLD.2
Collector area: 120 m²
Power installed: 18 kWc
Azimuth: -5° tilt: 30°
System operating mode
𝑃𝑝𝑣 > 𝑃𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑠 → 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒 + 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒
𝑃𝑝𝑣 = 𝑃𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑠 → 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝑃𝑝𝑣 < 𝑃𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑠 → 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 , 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑑 𝑖𝑓 𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑦
Solar production and system performance Simulation
The production
capacity of a PV
system is
primarily
determined by
the collector
area (active
area) and the
global irradiation
received in the solar panels plan whose intensity changes with the
weather, orientation and angels of panels. To turn into useful
electricity, the captured light energy is energy is affected
Should we go
further?
Off-grid
On-grid
Back up
o
One-way grid connection:
No resale possibility

2. AS3-W2E filiale d’E4U SAS au capital de 17 501 000 € – 11, Avenue Marc Sangnier – 92398 – VILLENEUVE-LA GARENNE CEDEX – France
RCS 808 647 028 Nanterre. TEL +33 680 787 967 – FAX +33 175 540 152 www.energy-4u.com
(reduced) by the overall system efficiency characterizing the
losses caused by its components, modules to the point of
consumption. Taking into account all these factors, the annual
production of all PV combined two fields is estimated at 56 GWh,
resulting in an energy yield of 930 kWh / kWp /yr. enough to
cover in average 35% of energy needs.
Solar coverage goes up to 97% in summer time due to the high
intensity sunlight. The consumption rate is 100% throughout the
year, meaning the whole generated solar electricity is consumed on
site. The performance index (PR) is equal to 86%. This measures the
quality of a PV system and account for the ratio between actual and
theoretical yield of the PV system during a reference period.
The resulting reduction in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from
a renewable energy project depends mainly upon the emission
factor of reference electricity grid that this one wants to replace.
Since in France 90% of electricity generation is nuclear and
hydraulic generating no or very little amount of CO2, emissions
gains by producing electricity from renewable source of energy
are not as are not as significant as other parts of the world.
Nowadays, the provision of a kWh of electricity by EDF induces 32
gCO2eq, against 14 gCO2eq released by a kWh of solar electricity.
Annual reduction of GHG emissions = 1 tCO2eq
Equivalent to:
Financial analysis
Theoretically, deciding to consume its own PV production
economically feasible, the sun is a free source of energy. The
question is whether the savings on bills makes PV installation
profitable.
The realization of the solar self-consumption project requires an
investment of € 240,000. The price of the PV system mainly
comprises:
• The cost of preliminary study and development
• The cost of engineering design offices (electrical & mechanical
designs ...)
• Purchases of materials (panels, inverters, batteries ...)
• Installation work and connection to the electricity grid
A provision of 10% is also set for unforeseen expenditures.
Operating costs including replacement and maintenance costs of
equipment as well as insurance premium are estimated around
€ 3,900 per year.
As the solar installation is supposed to be fully capitalized from
own funds, debt payments are considered zero for this project.
The main source of economy from self-consumption project
reminds the unexpended amount for purchasing of electricity
from various energy suppliers. The avoided cost of energy is
amounted to €
4,460 per year.
The graph of
cumulative cash
flows carries out a
tracking of all
expenses (output
flows) and incomes
(input flows) in the “House of Enterprises” self –consumption
project. It is
calculated on an
annual basis taking
into account all
expenses and
revenues
associated with the
implementation
and exploitation of
the PV system, as
well as general
financial
parameters such as the inflation rate, discount rate, taxes, debt
payments, etc.
As we can see, the balance of costs and savings over whole
project lifetime does not allow depreciation of the invested funds.
Conclusion
The results of this
feasibility study show
that the implementation
of a self-consumption of
solar system at the
“House of Enterprises”,
despite significant savings they can show in terms of energy costs
and carbon footprint does not prove any economic viability.
The main cause of the low energetic mix value in this project is an
excessive demand for electricity leading to the high amount of the
electricity bill, which the profitability of solar panels depends on.
It is therefore necessary to take in advance a set of provisions for
enhancing energy efficiency of the House of enterprises’ building
(i.e. strengthening thermal insulation, replacement of electrical
heating ...) to reduce the cost of electric billing and consecutively
to monetize the installation of PV solar panels.
In the current state, the operation of the House of Enterprises
solar self-consumption system would be likely to reduce GHG
emission by almost one ton of carbon dioxide equivalent.
All rights reserved by AS3-W2E – France 2015
434 lit. of petrol
not consumed
350 kg of
waste recycled
90m² of
Green enivrement
2.5 barrels of
oil not
consumed