The effect of building orientation on utilization of solar energy in dairy cattle barns

Abstract

In Turkey and the World, energy demand is continuously increased. In addition to the rapid depletion of fossil fuel resources used to supply the energy needs, ambient temperatures is risen, glaciers are melt and natural disasters are occured in our planet. In addition, people, animals and plants are greatly damaged due to the adverse effects of soil, water and air pollution. Solar energy is renewable, clean and easily accessible energy. Our country is more advantageous in terms of solar energy potential in comparison to many other countries and benefitting from this potential is very important. With the increasing importance of renewable energy sources, photovoltaic (PV) panels, which are able to convert solar energy directly into electrical energy, are not polluting the environment and easy to implement, are become more common. The inclination angle and position of the photovoltaic panels are the parameters that directly affect the production of electrical energy. Electrical energy is extensively used in agricultural production activities, as in every field. Especially, in animal production systems, the cost of electrical energy is an important input due to the high mechanization and the use of automation. This study was carried out in the dairy cattle barn with a capacity of 50 head in Bursa province. It was aimed to determine the amount of electrical energy produced by photovoltaic (PV) panels, located on the barn roof in four different directions (North-South, East-West, Northeast-Southwest, Northwest-Southeast), and also to find out whether produced energy is sufficient or not to meet the energy requirement of the barn. The electrical energy produced by the panels to be placed on the roofs was determined by using PVSOL software. According to the results, the amount of electrical energy produced from the panels with North-South (N), East-West (E), Northeast-Southwest (NE) and Northwest-Southeast (NW) orientation was determined as 179.453,0 kWh, 159.655,0 kWh, 175.950,0 kWh and 138.245,0 kWh, respectively. The annual electrical energy requirement of the barn with 50 head capacity was calculated as 25.200,0 kWh. In this case, it was calculated that the energy produced from the N, E, NE and NW orientations met the requirements of the barn by 5 to 7 times.