Development of a new integrated sustainability assessment model for energy systems

Abstract

This thesis presents a novel and comprehensive sustainability assessment model for energy systems. The model features an integrated approach and encompasses various multi-disciplinary areas of study, which influence energy systems. Two case studies are used to implement this model including solar photovoltaic and wind energy systems. The case studies are designed to meet the demand of 150 Ontario households for electricity, heating, cooling and hot water. The energy and exergy efficiencies of the integrated solar photovoltaic system are 66% and 30% respectively. On the other hand, the energy and exergy efficiencies of the integrated wind system are 31% and 24% respectively. Furthermore, the sustainability index for the wind energy system varies between 0.55 and 0.58 using the weighted geometric mean. On the other hand, the sustainability index of the solar photovoltaic system varies between 0.56 and 0.59 using the same method.