Highlight of Grid-connected PV systems in administrative buildings in Egypt

Solar energy applications are becoming increasingly common in Egypt. The abundant sunshine in Egypt, as well as the increasing competitiveness of solar energy systems including- but not limited to photovoltaic (PV), – predicts that these technologies could be weighed to be raised in Egypt.PV systems are installed on roof tiles or other parts of building structures to supplement grid utility, reduce electric bills, and provide emergency back–up energy. Moreover, they simultaneously reduce significant amounts of CO2 emissions. It is foreseen, a number of residential and public buildings in Egypt are using solar power to cut electric utility bills significantly. The approximately payback period to recover the investment costs for PV systems is up to about 5 years.  In addition, it is more economical to use PV system than grid utility systems. The two components that determine the total initial price of a grid- connected PV system are the modules and the balance of systems (BOS). The BOS includes different components such as mounting frames, inverters and site- specific installation hardware.The Government of Egypt (GOE) has endorsed the deployment of PV systems through three approaches. It started with a prime minister decree to install PV projects on one-thousand of the governmental buildings. This was followed by as an initiative called "Shamsk ya Masr", and finally the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) projects.Following the prime minster decree the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) and its affiliated companies took the lead to install PV systems at the top roof of their administrative buildings and interconnect these systems to the electricity network where the suitable locations have been selected for mounting them. About 90 PV systems have been already mounted with about a capacity of 9 MW. On the other hand, "Shamsk ya Masr" has considered energy efficiency (EE) so as to complement the PV systems, which will be installed on administrative buildings. Cost- effective EE measures should be implemented prior to or at the same time as implemented PV program. The amount of electricity that a PV system produces depends on the system type, orientation and the available solar resource. In 2014, the GOE issued the Feed-in Tariff program to further promote RE technologies in general and PV in particular. Egyptian Electric Utility and Consumer Protection Regulatory Authority (Egypt ERA) has set the regulations, promotion and awareness for PVs. This approach has been applied for administrative buildings as well.The paper highlights the impact of the previously mentioned mechanisms in deploying PV technologies through small scale projects. It also represents a cost- benefit analysis for the installed systems taking into account the measured value for PV parameters (kWh/kWp, PSH) and daily load profiles of the selected administrative buildings.</p

Opportunities of energy saving in lighting systems for public buildings

The lighting system provides many options for cost-effective energy saving with low or no inconvenience. Lighting improvements are excellent investments in most public buildings, it is usually cost-effective to address because lighting improvements are often easier to make than many process upgrades.For public buildings, the easy no and low cost options to help save money and improve the energy performance are:Understand energy use.Identify optionsPrioritize actionsMake the changes and measure the savings.Continue managing energy efficiency.The challenge is to retrofit traditional lamps with LED lamps of good quality. The benefits of LED light bulbs are long-lasting, durable, cool, mercury free, more efficient, and cost effective.The light Emitting Diode (LED) bulb uses a semiconductor as its light source, and is currently one of the most energy efficient and quickly developing types of bulbs for lighting. LEDs increasingly are being purchased to replace traditional bulbs. LEDs are relatively more expensive than other types of bulbs, but are very cost-effective because they use only a fraction of electricity of traditional lighting methods nd can last for longer.Benchmarking guides decision makers to policies aimed at the energy sector through better understanding of energy consumption trends nationwide, e.g.: energy price, moderating, peak demand, and encouraging sectors, low energy expansions.The “Improving Energy Efficiency Project of Lighting and Appliances” carried out energy audits and implemented opportunities of energy saving in lighting for different type of public buildings.To rationalize the use of energy by giving guidelines to consumers, the IEEL&amp;A project prepared some brochures.This paper leads with the results of case studies as energy audits, opportunities in lighting systems, energy saving and CO2 reduction.</p

DC Networks on the Distribution Level – New Trend or Vision?

"DC networks on Distribution Level – are they a new trend or a Vision?" That is the question that has focused the efforts of the Working Group the last two years, and whose consideration is summarized in this report. This report represents the first phase evaluation of this topic and is focused primarily on medium (MVDC) and low voltage (LVDC) level applications

Energy efficiency opportunities in Hotels

<p>According to the statistics in Egypt (2013), the number of hotels is 1193, about 407 of them have contracted power greater than 500 kW.</p><p>Air conditioning, lighting, water heating and refrigeration represent the main activities demanding electrical energy in hotel business.</p><p>The energy consumption per night spend changes a lot, depending on various factors; facilities provided, category of hotel, occupancy , geographical situation, weather conditions, nationality of clients, design and control of the installations.</p><p>Energy benchmarking is an internal management tool designed to provide ongoing, reliable and verifiable tracking on the hotels performance. The most useful performance indicator (or Energy Efficiency Benchmarking) of hotels are: Lighting Power Density (LPD) in W (for lighting)/m2, and energy intensity (kWh/m2/ y).</p><p>There are multiple benefits for improving energy in hotel business; reduces the hotel's operating cost, reduces climate change risks and promotes green tourism.</p><p>Energy efficiency opportunities are low-cost measures and cost- effective investments.   </p><p>There are many energy saving opportunities for lighting in hotel's guest rooms as well as the more obvious savings in lobbies and exterior lighting areas. Behavior campaigns can yield substantial energy savings, both through the guests and housekeeper behavior. Encouraging housekeepers to use natural light during room cleaning is a simple first step to implement energy saving program.</p><p>This paper presents the energy efficiency guidelines and energy benchmarking for hotels. Also a case study showing how the energy efficiency program implemented is presented.</p><p><strong> </strong></p

Harmonics Monitoring Survey on LED Lamps

<p class="Abstract">Light Emitting Diode (LED) lamps are being increasingly used in many applications. These LED lamps operate using a driver, which is a switching device. Hence, LED lamps will be a source of harmonics in the power system. These harmonics if not well treated, may cause severe performance and operational problems. In this paper, harmonics (amplitude and phase angles) generated by both LED lamps and conventional fluorescent lamps will be studied practically. Then they will be analyzed and evaluated. Compared to each other harmonics generated by both LED and conventional florescent lamps, self mitigation may occur based on the phase angle of these harmonics. All data will be measured using power analyzer and will be done on a sample of actual lamps.</p

Highlight of Grid-connected PV systems in administrative buildings in Egypt

<p class="Abstract">Solar energy applications are becoming increasingly common in Egypt. The abundant sunshine in Egypt, as well as the increasing competitiveness of solar energy systems including- but not limited to photovoltaic (PV), – predicts that these technologies could be weighed to be raised in Egypt.</p><p class="Abstract">PV systems are installed on roof tiles or other parts of building structures to supplement grid utility, reduce electric bills, and provide emergency back–up energy. Moreover, they simultaneously reduce significant amounts of CO² emissions. It is foreseen, a number of residential and public buildings in Egypt are using solar power to cut electric utility bills significantly. The approximately payback period to recover the investment costs for PV systems is up to about 5 years.  In addition, it is more economical to use PV system than grid utility systems. The two components that determine the total initial price of a grid- connected PV system are the modules and the balance of systems (BOS). The BOS includes different components such as mounting frames, inverters and site- specific installation hardware.</p><p>The Government of Egypt (GOE) has endorsed the deployment of PV systems through three approaches. It started with a prime minister decree to install PV projects on one-thousand of the governmental buildings. This was followed by as an initiative called "Shamsk ya Masr", and finally the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) projects.</p><p>Following the prime minster decree the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) and its affiliated companies took the lead to install PV systems at the top roof of their administrative buildings and interconnect these systems to the electricity network where the suitable locations have been selected for mounting them. About 90 PV systems have been already mounted with about a capacity of 9 MW. On the other hand, "Shamsk ya Masr" has considered energy efficiency (EE) so as to complement the PV systems, which will be installed on administrative buildings. Cost- effective EE measures should be implemented prior to or at the same time as implemented PV program. The amount of electricity that a PV system produces depends on the system type, orientation and the available solar resource. In 2014, the GOE issued the Feed-in Tariff program to further promote RE technologies in general and PV in particular. Egyptian Electric Utility and Consumer Protection Regulatory Authority (Egypt ERA) has set the regulations, promotion and awareness for PVs. This approach has been applied for administrative buildings as well.</p><p>The paper highlights the impact of the previously mentioned mechanisms in deploying PV technologies through small scale projects. It also represents a cost- benefit analysis for the installed systems taking into account the measured value for PV parameters (kWh/kWp, PSH) and daily load profiles of the selected administrative buildings.</p

Development of Reliability Indices for Electric Distribution Network in Egypt

<p class="IndexTerms">Reliability indices (RIs) are the elemental benchmark used by Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC), and the Electric Utility and Consumer Protection Regulatory Agency (Egypt ERA) to evaluate the continuity and compliance of supply, which surpasses the customer's requirements and satisfaction. </p><p class="IndexTerms">The power system is very complex, mixing huge different types of generating resources and clusters to supply electric power through transmission and distribution system to a number of customers with varying requirements.</p><p class="IndexTerms">The main function of electric system is to supply customers with electric energy that has an acceptable degree of reliability and quality. The power system continuity of supply level is controlled through system indices. The most widely used reliability indices are SAIFI, SAIDI and CAIDI (IEEE std. 1366-2000).</p><p class="IndexTerms">Historical electrical indices, reliability indices threshold and satisfaction index are used as guide for electric network performance, which measure the adequate and secure power supply.</p><p class="IndexTerms">The paper presents the reliability indices, relation between indices and satisfaction area to highlight the appropriate guideline values for electric systems, also presents the development of indices since 2011 to now for distribution network in Egypt.</p