Energy and Buildings 141 (2017) 39–55 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Energy and Buildings j ourna l ho me page: www.elsevier.com/locate/enbuild Design of large scale prosuming in Universities: The solar energy vision of the TUC campus Dimitrios Hasapis, Nikolaos Savvakis, Theocharis Tsoutsos ∗ , Konstantinos Kalaitzakis, Spyridon Psychis, Nikolaos P. Nikolaidis Technical University of Crete (TUC), GR-73100 Chania, Greece a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 15 November 2015 Received in revised form 22 January 2017 Accepted 24 January 2017 Available online 7 February 2017 Keywords: Sustainable energy Photovoltaics Self-consumption Energy yield a b s t r a c t The current paper presents the main steps in the design of large-scale photovoltaic (PV) power generation plants in University campuses towards their energy independence. As an example is used the campus of the Technical University of Crete as a base case to describe the design. Today the insular power system of Crete is based on oil fuel by 75%. Solar electricity is designed and discussed in this report. For this scope, the energy consumption figures of the buildings within the campus are analyzed. In par- allel, a feasibility study of the PV energy generation is conducted revealing their potential contributions and applicability. The resultant electrical energy generation design satisfies the project objective by utilizing alternative energy sources and reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of the campus. The results obtained are satisfactory being both technically and economically feasible. To conclude, these designs proposed in this project can be the first steps towards a 100% green energy campus and get even more tempting with relevant technological improvements in the future. © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Solar energy is a resource with both scalability and technol- ogy maturity to meet constantly rising global demand for power generation. Amongst solar power technologies, photovoltaic (PV) Abbreviations: AC, alternating current (A); CO2e, tons of equivalent carbon diox- ide; DC, direct current (A); E AC , AC energy output (kWh or MWh); E AC,m , monthly total AC energy output (kWh or MWh); E AC,y , annual total AC energy output (kWh or MWh); EDC, DC energy output (kWh or MWh); EDC,y, annual total DC energy output (kWh or MWh); EDC,m, monthly total DC energy output (kWh or MWh); H, total solar irradiation-insolation on a horizontal surface (W/m 2 ); H, monthly average total solar irradiation-insolation on a horizontal surface (kWh/m 2 ); HY , annual total solar irradiation-insolation on a horizontal surface (kWh/m 2 ); HT, total in plane solar irradiation-insolation (kWh/m 2 ); ¯ HT , monthly average daily total in plane solar irradiation-insolation (kWh/m 2 ); ¯ HT,Y , annual total in plane solar irradiation- insolation (kWh/m 2 ); IEC, international electrotechnical commission; KT, clearness index; ¯ KT , monthly average daily clearness index; MPP, maximum power point; P pv,rated , PV rated power (kWp); PR, performance ratio (%); PV, photovoltaic; STC, standard test condition; T, temperature ( ◦ C); T, ambient temperature ( ◦ C); T,m, monthly average value of ambient temperature ( ◦ C); TUC, Technical University of Crete; Y A , array yield (kWh/kWp) or (h). ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: theocharis.tsoutsos@enveng.tuc.gr (T. Tsoutsos). technology has experienced rapid growth and is expected to con- tinue its key role in creating sustainable energy future [1,2]. A significant number of universities globally are planning rele- vant investments, in order to improve their sustainability in short- and medium-term. To further enhance this approach, support poli- cies have been introduced in several countries, while in some cases PV energy generation for self-consumption can be profitable with- out subsidies [3–5]. In this paper, the term self-consumption is used to refer to the total PV electricity generation that is consumed directly or within a limited timeframe by the owner of the PV sys- tem [4]. Although several studies have already investigated the feasibility and economic aspects of creating large-scale PV power plants (Table 1), limited research [11,12] has been published on the planning and design of these installations in University campuses towards their energy independence. The main aim of this paper is to propose a standard procedure for the design of large-scale grid-connected PV installations on University campuses. In this framework, the campus of the Technical University of Crete (TUC) is selected in order to validate the developed procedure through the design of a 2 MWp grid-connected PV system. Moreover, this study also explains the significance of self-consumption in countries, such as in Greece, where there are no incentives for electricity fed into the grid. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2017.01.074 0378-7788/© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.