Techno-Economic Evaluation of Solar Water Heating Systems for Sustainable Tourism in Selected Cities in Fiji

Olanrewaju Miracle Oyewola; Malik O. Olasinde; Patrick M. Singh; Olusegun O. Ajide; Olawale S. Ismail

doi:10.15866/ireme.v17i8.23351

Techno-Economic Evaluation of Solar Water Heating Systems for Sustainable Tourism in Selected Cities in Fiji

Olanrewaju Miracle Oyewola^(1*), Malik O. Olasinde⁽²⁾, Patrick M. Singh⁽³⁾, Olusegun O. Ajide⁽⁴⁾, Olawale S. Ismail⁽⁵⁾

^(*) Corresponding author

Authors' affiliations

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15866/ireme.v17i8.23351

Abstract

Fiji, a country that derives more than 35% of its GDP from tourism and relies on imported fuel for its energy need, demands renewable energy to make the country's tourism sustainable, affordable and more attractive to the tourist. In view of this, this study investigated the techno-economic performance of the SWH system in four selected locations representing each of the four regions in Fiji with the aim of promoting sustainable tourism. The result shows that the solar fraction ranges from 100-90%, 61.8-48.3% and 82.8-67.9% for unglazed, glazed and evacuated solar water collectors in all the selected locations, respectively. The energy saved ranges from 5149-4744 kWh, 3184-2544 kWh and 4265-3576 kWh for unglazed, glazed and evacuated tube SWH collectors for all four selected locations respectively. The emission reduction ranges from 1.7-1.6 ton-CO2, 1.1-0.86 ton-CO2 and 1.4-1.2 ton-CO2 for unglazed, glazed and evacuated tube SWH collectors for all the four selected locations, respectively. The equity payback periods range from 4.6-4.2 years, 13.8-10.7 years and 18.3-15.4 years for unglazed, glazed and evacuated tube SWH collectors for all the four selected locations. Generally, the unglazed collector is the most suitable for all the locations investigated in this study.
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Keywords

SWH Collector; Payback Period; Solar Fraction; GHG Emission; Solar Radiation; Sustainable Tourism; Feasibility

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