Forum discussion
NC-2009 EAc2: On-Site Renewable Energy
Help Please! Our GBCI reviwer is asking us to: Provide screenshots or output calculations from a simulation program showing how the annual energy savings was determined for the photovoltaic system.
They suggest using PV Watts, however PV Watts seems to be not usable for our project located in the Carribean as it says "No PV Watts data at mouseclick". Any suggestions? Is there another software we can use?
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Can I pursue this credit if I am using one of the prescriptive compliance paths for EAp2/EAc1?
Can I really double-count onsite renewable energy in both EAc2 and EAc1?
Our PV system is being installed after the building is occupied. Is that okay?
Nadav Malin
CEOBuildingGreen, Inc.
LEEDuser Moderator
844 thumbs up
August 25, 2011 - 11:23 pm
Whoever engineered the system must have some basis for estimating electricity output--it should be enough just to share their calculations. You'll want to to factor in climate data (solar insolation), orientation and slope of the panels, and their generation efficiency, as well as an estimate of losses in the balance of system components (such as DC to AC conversion). PVWatts has pretty sophisticated algorithms for doing this, but there are simpler estimates you can use. Check with a local engineer with solar experience if your provider can't do it.