Centennial Park Zero Carbon Projects

The School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, UNSW, is actively looking for Masters by research students interested in the following two projects.  Prospective students should inquire directly to either Dr Richard Corkish, Head of School, or, A/Prof Alistair Sproul.

Project Aims

To assess the technical potential of Centennial Parklands (CP) operations reaching Zero Carbon through energy efficiency and the use of on-site renewable energy systems. 

Project Scope

Two projects would be established.  The first would audit energy usage and then examine the technical potential to significantly reduce energy usage through energy efficiency measures.  The second project would examine the technical potential for implementing on site renewable energy generation, primarily through the installation of Photovoltaic systems.  

Project details

Project 1: Energy Efficiency Assessment. 

The first task would be to carry out a thorough energy audit, in close consultation with CP staff, of all of the major energy consuming activities within CP operations.  This audit would be carried out in accordance with AS/NZS 3598:2000 Energy Audits.   A “level 2” audit would be conducted which requires significant analysis effort to fully identify the energy consumption of all of the individual energy consuming activities with the CP operations to an accuracy level of +/- 10%.  If necessary, monitoring of individual electrical circuits may need to be carried out to determine the breakdown of the energy usage.  This audit would identify and rank all energy usage activities as well as the cost of the energy on an annual basis.  Depending on the scale of CP operations this task would be expected to take 3 – 6 months with a report prepared for consideration by CP management at the end of this time.

Once the energy usage breakdown has been established the project would move toward identifying energy efficiency measures that can significantly reduce energy usage across the major areas of energy usage.  The project would focus on quantitatively identifying the technical potential for energy reduction and the associated energy savings will also be quantified.  Where possible a quantitative economic assessment of the upfront capital cost will also be made.  Where this is not easily obtained, qualitative estimates of capital costs will be acquired from previous published case studies.  This technical/economic assessment is expected to take 6 – 9 months with a final report available to CP management at the end of this time period.

Project 2: Renewable Energy Assessment.

The first task in this project would be to carry out a thorough assessment, again in close consultation with CP staff, to identify potential sites for implementation of renewable energy generators (photovoltaic, solar thermal and wind systems).  Once suitable sites have been identified, renewable energy systems will be designed and their performance modelled.  Indicative costs of the various systems will also be obtained to allow an initial economic assessment.  The modelling results will be used in conjunction with the result from Project 1, to assess how deeply the CO₂ emissions of CP can be reduced with an initial estimate of the capital cost and likely pay back periods.  In addition this project will investigate the impact of the total energy reduction for the local electricity utility, in particular the impact on peak demand.  If significant peak reductions can be obtained through energy efficiency and renewable energy systems then utilities could be approached to assist CP with the cost of implementing these measures.

The overall study will deliver

1) a thorough assessment of the energy efficiency and renewable energy potential for CP operation

2) an estimate of the energy and cost savings as well as an initial estimate of the capital costs

3)  a ranking of measures in terms of cost (NPV) and carbon reduction

Centennial Parklands can use this study as a basis to investigate commercial solutions aiming at achieving Zero Carbon through energy efficiency and the use of on-site renewable energy systems.

Students NEEDED

One Masters by research student is sought for each of these projects.

Scholarship support may be available.

Supervision

Project 1:  with Associate Professor Alistair Sproul

Alistair Sproul is an Associate Professor within the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering at UNSW.  A/Prof Sproul has worked in the area of photovoltaic research and R&D since 1985 in a range of positions with various companies (BP Solar, Pacific Solar) and research institutions (UNSW, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Freiburg, Germany).  Since 2001 he has been strongly involved in developing and delivering the undergraduate program within the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering at UNSW. His current research interests are in the area of PV/energy systems for low energy buildings and highly efficient water pumping systems. 

Project 2:  with Dr Richard Corkish, Head of School

Richard Corkish graduated with distinction as a Communications Engineer from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 1986 then worked with the CSIRO Division of Radiophysics on satellite earth-station antenna design and testing before studying for a PhD degree under the supervision of Professor Martin Green at the University of New South Wales' Centre for Photovoltaic Devices and Systems. After a brief period working with the Rainbow Power Company in Nimbin he has worked on solar cell theory, applications and education at UNSW. He is currently the Head of School at the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, UNSW.