Feasibility and Benefits of Deploying Solar Electric Generation Across Public and Commercial Roof Space in Eugene, Oregon
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Date
2006-06
Authors
Neff, Raymond
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon, Institute for a Sustainable Environment
Abstract
Many commercial and public buildings have large expanses of roof area that are ideally
suited for generating electricity with solar photovoltaics (PV). They are often free of obstructions
from the sun, like large trees or other natural barriers and are generally taller than most
residential structures that may be nearby. By developing a network of interconnected, small to
medium-scale solar PV arrays, we may be able to realize economic, environmental and social
benefits that steer Eugene toward a more sustainable energy future by reducing our dependence
on costly, non-renewable energy sources. While we certainly will not be able to meet all of our
electricity needs through distributed solar PV, we could substantially reduce our dependence on
the most detrimental non-renewable resources that we currently rely on and increase our overall
renewable energy portfolio.
This research investigates the feasibility and potential economic and environmental benefits
derived from deploying distributed generation, solar PV systems on public and commercial
rooftops in Eugene, Oregon. GIS software and aerial photographs are used to determine the
available under-utilized roof area and locally available solar data are used to estimate the amount
of energy it is possible to generate.
Description
29 p.