This module is synchronous during class session, but recorded for asynchronous viewing.
HydroQuebec has a calculator much like the one we are working on. Ours differs from their in the sense that we are using weather data and simulated consumption data in our calculations.
The cost of electricity depends on the total daily consumption (see Canada Energy Regulator for additional details): consumption exceeding a threshold is billed at a higher rate. We assume in this simulator that excess energy produced is sold to the grid at the cost associated to regular consumption (note that this not actually how it works in practice; credits are issued instead and there are fixed costs involved).
Threshold between regular and high consumption: (as kWh per day)
Cost of regular consumption: (as Canadian cents per kWh)
Cost of excess consumption: (as Canadian cents per kWh)
Instead of computing the global irradiation onto an inclined plane, we simplify and only work with direct radiation. In reality, the radiation arriving at the panel surface would also include reflected and diffuse radiation so it would be somewhat higher than estimated in these calculations.
Number of panels:
Surface area of each individual panel: (in square meters)
Panel inclination: (elevation angle from horizontal in degrees)
Conversion effiency: (as a percentage)
Panel lifetime (in years)
Purchase cost of each individual panel: (in CAD)
Initial installation cost: (in CAD for the whole system)
System maintenance cost: (in CAD)
System maintenance interval: (in months)
Probability of snow removal: (as a percentage)
The kWh consumed by a household to depends on the weather, the time of day, and the month, among other factors. We work with a simplified model, very loosely based on the findings of the Irish study linked above:
We use binary indicators for whether it is raining (no/yes) and snowing (yes/no), for simplicity, although the data itself contains more precise information.
Value for X (see the above list for what X stands for)
Value for Y (see the above list for what Y stands for)
Value for Z (see the above list for what Z stands for)
Temperature threshold (in Celsius)
Mean household consumption (in kWh during the winter)
Standard deviation for household consumption (in kWh, assuming normal distribution)
Although the Irish model distinguises between times of day (eight periods), our simplified model ignores these nuances. By using times of day, their model is also able to distinguish between workdays, weekends, and holidays, which we also ignore.
Download the compressed file for the province of your interest from the CWEEDS 2020 dataset. Uncompress the file and then choose one of the resulting location-specific CSV files to use as input.
If you make any changes to the above parameters, please reload the dataset to see the effects of the changes.