Replacing fossil fuel source of electricity wtih solar cells in an education centre in UK and Kurdistan

Abstract

There is an urgent need to replace fossil fuels, which are causing damaging effects to the environment, with renewable and environmentally friendly sources such as wind, hydroelectric, solar and tidal energy. Of these alternatives solar energy appears to be the most promising candidate. The role of energy management has greatly expanded in many different industries. Efforts to introduce energy management in small and medium scale enterprises (SME) is however, very limited due to the lack of initiation, expertise and financial limitations. In manufacturing companies, energy cost is relatively a small portion of the total production cost, and therefore receives relatively little attention. Another problem is lack of understanding regarding the underlying principles involved in energy management. This study focuses on Kip McGrath Education Centre that can be classified as SMEs type of business by considering individual electrical instruments used. The feasibility of replacing its energy needs with silicon solar cells has been studied and will also contribute to the reduction in the carbon
emissions. The methodology developed enables a comparison of a micro-business model to be achieved in the UK and Kurdistan-Iraq. Even though Kurdistan is abundant in oil and gasits climatic favour the implementation of solar cells to replace the existing use of non-renewable sources. Our study suggests that solar can replace a reasonable amount of the energy needed even in the UK and a much higher amount in Kurdistan-Iraq. Using 20% efficient solar cells 57% and 170% of the energy requirements of the microbusiness can be replaced in UK and Kurdistan-Iraq respectively.