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Scientists at the University of Malaya have designed a roof that can help address an environmental conflict: increasing demands for energy to increase living comfort versus a need to scale back fossil fuel use to address climate change. The conflict has driven interest in more efficient renewable energy sources, especially in emerging economies.
The roof's most visible feature is a V-shaped structure set atop a peaked roof, which guides wind into a series of turbines situated below it to generate energy as they turn. The structure also increases airflow within the building by means of vents built into the peaked roof to enhance natural ventilation. In addition, a rainwater harvester is connected to an automated cooling and cleaning system that washes solar cells embedded in the sloped roof to keep them efficient. Transparent skylights brighten the main rooms inside the building during the daytime, reducing the need for artificial lighting.
The team says that adding the roof to an existing building creates minimal visual impact and can be used in urban and rural settings.
In Malaysia, the average person uses about 4,200 kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy per year. The researchers say their roof could support about six people by generating more than 21,200 kWh of energy a year while saving another 1,840 kWh because of its skylights. Also, the venting system could move about 217 million cubic metres of air and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 17,768 kilos, while the rainwater harvester could collect close to 525 cubic metres of water.
Do they have homeowner's associations in Malaysia?
(Score: 2) by Zinho on Monday April 10 2017, @04:33PM
No need to guess on this; there are actual numbers available. Potential of Global Solar Radiation in Terengganu, Malaysia [PDF warning] [academicpub.org]
2200 hours of sun per year, average daily irradiation of ~5kWh/m^2, peak hourly irradiation 1.1kW/m^2.
The back of my envelope translates that to needing a 12.67kW solar installation, which at wholesale prices [wholesalesolar.com] will run you about $18,000 US for the materials (solar only). Add maybe $1,000 each [wholesalesolar.com] for the 6 turbines they show in their picture, gets you to ~ $24,000 US. Not sure how much labor costs in Malaysia; probably less than the US since my company is shifting a good bit of its manufacturing there.
£32k -> $40k US; sounds perhaps a touch high based on my numbers above, but in the right ballpark. You probably couldn't put together the system from the article for less than $30k US.
As others mentioned, the system may last 25 years, which gives plenty of time to make back the initial investment. The problem you run into is that big chunk of change up front; that's the same hurdle slowing down adoption everywhere else in the world.
The team says the roof's energy yield depends on where it is located. The researchers note that there were low winds at their test location, so payback could be greater in windier areas.
Kudos to the University team for actually building a test unit! I was about to assume that this was an ivory-tower exercise, especially given that the pictures in the article are all CG rather than photographed.
This really would work best when built into new construction rather than as a retrofit; optimal roof pitch for the latitude and aligning the roofline to point directly south makes a huge difference.
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin