Publication

Abstract : Ever rising demand for energy has crossed the parameters and has reached to an irrepressible level where human activities couldn’t go any further unless they address this perilous situation. Most communities and institutions have recently realized that they’ve been very much un-sustainable in their day-today operations. Now their prime concern is not to compete among themselves but to become self-sustainable which they realize as the key to successful business. This paper aims to demonstrate how an institutional community can become self-sustainable in meeting their energy requirements. Our study targets efficient deployment of solar panels in large campus communities to effectively meet the energy sustainability. Sustainability is achieved through the deployment of 1.7 million solar panels in the campus community together generating 13,369 megawatt hours per year. On the consumption side, smart control panels help to limit usage to 4,338 megawatt hours per year, allowing 9,031 megawatt hours to be pushed back to the grid, generating an annual revenue of $0.6 million. This level of surplus helps to defray the initial investment in eleven years’ time, which is about half the lifespan of solar panels, thereby proving the economic viability of the deployment. The methodology is repeatable and replicable in any community aspiring to achieve self-sustainability