Final SMART Report For Verification Case Study

i
SMART Report: Photovoltaic Roof

Installation in Ten R-2000 Alberta Homes
for the year 2009
ii
Executive Summary
This report describes the results of the project "Photovoltaic Roof Installation
in Ten R-2000 Alberta Homes for the performance year of 2009 and is
meant to highlight any changes from the planned project as detailed in the
report PMP. This project involves the demonstration of the thin film
amorphous silicon photovoltaic panel, referred to in this document as PVL, on
ten R-2000 houses in a small community in Southern Alberta. The project
proponent is WATT Developments, who specialize in eco-friendly homes. As
planned, 64 panels were installed on each house with a total area per house
of 52.5m
2
and a system capacity of 3.2 kW. Each panel is rated at 50W.

This project was initiated in 2007, built in 2008, and 2009 represents the
first year that all ten PV systems were fully operational. This report covers
the reporting period of January 1 - December 31 2009 and does not include
project operation outside of these dates. During the 2009 period, all
operations were normal. As planned in the PMP, the only measured variables
are elements B3.1 and B3.2 relating to displaced grid electricity. Emissions
resulting from these elements are a function of PV electricity generated in
kWh. In 2009, total electricity generated by the 10 PV systems was 42,720
kWh. This is a slight reduction from the RETscreen estimate provided in the
PMP of 49,840 kWh.

The greenhouse gas emission reductions resulting from this project are
calculated to be 840 tonnes of CO
2
e over 25 years. These results are
indicated in the table below, including uncertainty values.

TotaI GHGs Uncertainty (+/-)
kg CO2e %
BaseIine 956,330 5
Project 116,799 22
Emission
Reduction 839,531 7

This amounts to a GHG emission reduction for 2009 of about 34 t CO2e, as
indicated in the table below.

TotaI GHGs
kg CO2e/year
BaseIine 38,253
Project 4,672
Emission Reduction 33,581

iii
Table of Contents
1 Purpose of Document...................................................................... 1
2 Project Documentation.................................................................... 1
2.1 Relevant GHG Scheme .............................................................. 1
2.2 Standards and Legislation ......................................................... 1
2.3 Good Practice Guidance............................................................. 1
2.4 Project Master Plan................................................................... 1
2.5 Project Design Summary........................................................... 1
3 Identification of Project Elements ..................................................... 5
4 Baseline Selection and Justification................................................... 5
4.1 Baseline Selection Methodology.................................................. 5
4.2 Potential Baseline Scenarios ...................................................... 6
4.3 Baseline Selection .................................................................... 6
5 Identification of Baseline Elements ................................................... 6
5.1 Identification of Baseline Elements ............................................. 6
6 Selection of Elements Attributable to the Project and Baseline.............. 6
6.1 Project .................................................................................... 6
6.2 Baseline .................................................................................. 6
7 Comparability of Project and Baseline ............................................... 6
8 Project Quantification...................................................................... 6
8.1 Assumptions............................................................................ 7
8.2 Project Element-by-Element Results ........................................... 7
9 Baseline Quantification.................................................................... 7
9.1 Assumptions............................................................................ 7
9.2 Baseline Element-by-Element Results ......................................... 8
10 Quantification of GHG Emission Reductions..................................... 9
10.1 Procedures for Quantification of GHG Emission Reductions ......... 9
10.2 GHG Emission Reduction Results ............................................. 9
10.3 Sensitivity Analysis...............................................................10
11 Risk Management Plan ................................................................10
12 Test Plan...................................................................................12
12.1 Operating the System.................Error! Bookmark not defined.
12.2 Compute expected A:L Ratio........Error! Bookmark not defined.
iv
13 Monitoring Plan ..........................................................................12
14 Quality Assurance and Quality Control Plan....................................12
15 Reporting Plan ...........................................................................12
16 Conclusions and Recommendations ..............................................13
17 Recommendations ......................................................................13

Table 1: Project Element by Element Results .......................................... 7
Table 2: Baseline Assumptions .............................................................. 8
Table 3: Baseline Element by Element Results......................................... 8
Table 4: Emission Reductions for 2009 (kg CO
2
e) .................................... 9
Table 5: GHG emission reductions (annually) ........................................... 9
Table 6: Normalized Emission Reductions (kg CO
2
e/kWh)........................10
Table 7: Risk Assessment ....................................................................10
Table 8: Emission Reductions...............................................................13
Photovoltaic Roof Installation in Ten R-2000 Alberta Homes February 2009
1

1 Purpose of Document
The purpose of this document is to report on the results of the project
"Photovoltaic Roof Installation in Ten R-2000 Alberta Homes for TEAM for
the performance year of 2009.
2 Project Documentation
There is no change from the project master plan (PMP) titled "A Project
Example for Verification Case Study 1: Photovoltaic Roof Installation in Ten
R-2000 Alberta Homes. Please refer to Section 2 of this report for full
details.
2.1 Relevant GHG Scheme
There is no change from the project master plan titled "A Project Example for
Verification Case Study 1: Photovoltaic Roof Installation in Ten R-2000
Alberta Homes. Please refer to Section 2.1 of this report for full details.
2.2 Standards and Legislation
2.3 Good Practice Guidance
2.4 Project Master Plan
2.5 Project Design Summary
Title
Photovoltaic Roof Installation in Ten R-2000 Alberta Homes.
General Description
The example project is titled "Photovoltaic Roof Installation in Ten R-2000
Alberta Homes. This project demonstrates the operation of photovoltaic
(PV) solar on ten homes in Western Canada. The project proponent is WATT
Developments, who specialize in eco-friendly homes. These homes have
been built in southern Alberta as part of a demonstration project. The
location was chosen because of the high number of sunshine days per year.
2
The project design occurred in the period of December 2006 to March 2007.
Initial grading and site services were installed in late spring to early summer
of 2007. Construction of the houses occurred on schedule, over the summer
of 2007 to end of 2008. Fortunately, due to the housing shortage, all homes
were pre-sold and house occupancy occurred immediately after completion of
construction. House occupancy was phased and started in February 2008
and ended February 2009. Monitoring has occurred since house occupancy,
and measurements will be taken up to one year after the last house was
occupied. This is the first project SMART report after the development of the
PMP. We expect a final SMART report to be issued February 2010.

Figure 1: Project Schedule
Project Background
Solar generated electricity using photovoltaic modules is one technology that
can contribute to a shift to a more sustainable energy mix. R&D investments
in this technology worldwide are among the highest of all renewable energy
options due to the economic potential of this industry sector and the
environmental benefits to stimulating early private investments in PV
technology. A number of projects around the world show an emerging
market for residential grid-connected PV systems, despite the fact that
electricity from solar cells is still more expensive than grid power. Pioneers
in this field are beginning to build PV solar homes for energy-efficiency and
ecological reasons as well as for aesthetics and prestige. Electric utilities view
PV as a decentralised power source with peak-saving benefits and a large
3
longer-term economic potential. For this they are starting to construct and
operate PV systems to respond to customer demand.
There is an opportunity to position Canadian companies so that they can
benefit from the growth of the PV market worldwide. In Canada the
challenge is to develop photovoltaic cells into a more affordable clean power
source and to make it available to Canadian utility companies, homebuilders,
and homeowners while meeting market expectations. The interest of the
photovoltaic cell R&D community and PV industry, together with architects,
the building industry, property developers and various levels of government
is required in order to take up this challenge effectively on a national level.
This TEAM project should provide information on how to make PV solar home
systems available, affordable and marketable for residential customers in
Canada. This project uses amorphous-silicon PV modules in rooftop arrays in
10 houses.
Purpose and Objectives
The overall goal of this project is two-fold: (i) to develop PV rooftop
technologies for integration with energy efficient homes in order to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and (ii), to provide further insight into how PV
solar home systems can be made better available, affordable and marketable
for residential customers in Canada.
GHG Reduction Strategy
Each watt of PV installed has the potential to offset CO
2
and other gases
when displacing fossil fuel use. In this project, the PV systems are grid
connected to the Alberta grid, which is approximately 87%
1
fossil fired.
From a GHG perspective, the project could be categorized as renewable
energy with electric power generation, offsetting electricity on the public grid.
Location
A total of ten sites were developed with PV systems. These are located in
one community in south western Alberta. These 10 project sites are
reviewed and quantified as a group and the results are presented as
estimates for greenhouse gas reductions over a 25-year span for the ten
houses in aggregate based on monitored PV electricity production for 2009.

Primary Project Function
By design, the primary function of each system is to generate electricity.
The expected level of activity of electricity generation is a function of the
installed rated PV capacity, array geometry, and sunshine conditions. In the

1
Environment Canada, Canadas GHG National Inventory (1996-2004), 2006, Table A9-10.
4
PMP power production by the PV system for each house was estimated based
on a Natural Resources Canada RETScreen
2
. PV power production was
measured over the project period and actual results are reported here.
It is most convenient and meaningful to represent the project system
function in terms of power production in a one-year period. Most emissions
factors, particularly those used from the TEAM PV draft protocol are
expressed on a scaled basis in units of CO
2
e per m
2
of installed PV panel.
Activities and Technologies
This project involved the demonstration of the thin film amorphous silicon
photovoltaic panel, referred to in this document as PVL. Amorphous silicon
photovoltaic technology is an energy spectrum-splitting cell constructed of
separate p-i-n types of silicon, each with a different spectral response
characteristic. This allows the cell to convert the different visible and near
infrared wavelengths of sunlight with optimal efficiency. Although this
technology can be installed on a flexible substrate, in this application
standard framed cells were mounted onto the roofing structure by means of
a racking system. As planned, 64 panels were installed on each house with a
total area per house of 52.5m
2
and a system capacity of 3.2 kW. Each panel
is rated at 50W. Inverters are located in the basement for access reasons.
There is wiring connecting the photovoltaic panels to the inverter that runs
from the roof to the basement. The wiring is appropriately sealed at
penetration points in the building envelop.
Project Proponents and Partners*
3

Numerous proponents and partners were involved in this distributed project,
and are detailed here.
2.5.1.1 Proponent
WATT Developments
xxx Somestreet, Somecity, SomeProvince
Tel: (xxx) xxx-xxxx Fax: (xxx) xxx-xxxx
Email: some.one@WATT.com
Web: www.WATT.com
Contact: Joe Smith, Business Development Manager

2
The RETScreen International Clean Energy Project Analysis Software can be used to evaluate
the energy production and savings, life-cycle costs, emission reductions, financial viability and
risk for various types of energy efficient and renewable energy technologies (RETs) including
photovoltaic technology. http://www.retscreen.net
3
Note that all individuals, organizations and companies, with the exception of TEAM are
fictional.
5
WATT Developments (WATT) was incorporated in Alberta in 2001. WATT
Developments has 40 full time equivalent employees that develop housing
communities. Since 2005, a main marketing strategy has been to appeal to
the 20-40 eco-conscious age group and supply affordable housing with
"green technologies. WATT has 3 full time equivalent employees focused
mainly on applying solar energy technology to residential communities.
2.5.1.2 Homeowners
Various homeowners are stakeholders. They host the PV systems on their
house roofs.
2.5.1.3 Other Stakeholders
Several other stakeholders are associated with the project but do not have a
significant role in the decision process to use solar power. These
stakeholders are:
the local electricity utility;
trades people building the homes;
the municipality;
Solar Panel Association; and
surrounding neighbours.
Other Factors
The project has had no direct effects on socio-economic issues. Indirect
effects associated with PV system component of production, installation and
electricity generation were not investigated in this report.

3 Identification of Project Elements
Alberta Homes. Please refer to Section 3 of this report for full details.
4 Baseline Selection and Justification
4.1 Baseline Selection Methodology
6
4.2 Potential Baseline Scenarios
4.3 Baseline Selection
5 Identification of Baseline Elements
5.1 Identification of Baseline Elements
6 Selection of Elements Attributable to the Project and
Baseline
6.1 Project
6.2 Baseline
7 Comparability of Project and Baseline
8 Project Quantification
7
8.1 Assumptions
8.2 Project Element-by-Element Results
The project element results have not changed from the original project
master plan as there are no measured values used to calculate the project
emissions.
Table 1: Project Element by Element Results
Category EIement identifier EIement name
kg CO2e %
E1 Manufacturing cell
material
2,192.3 21
E2 Manufacturing
substrate &
encapsulation
material (glass/glass)
15,346.2 16
E6 Cell and module
processing
17,538.6 35
E7 Aluminum frame
21,923.2 100
E8 nverter
5,700.0 51
E9 Mounting system
30,692.5 30
E10 Additional BOS
components
2,313.6 26
E11 System installation
2,987.3 30
Category A
E18 Facilities
10,961.6 30
E19 Capital equipment
production
1,115.3 21
E21 Transportation
4,406.7 59
Category C E12 System operation
0.0 0
E20 Maintenance
1,621.7 50
Category E E14 Decommissioning
N/A N/A
TOTAL
116,799 22

9 Baseline Quantification

9.1 Assumptions
Assumptions made in the project master plan relating to the baseline are
shown below and confirmation or descriptions of differences noted.
8
Table 2: Baseline Assumptions
Element
ID
Element
description
Assumptions Comments
B3.1 Electricity Production

This is the activity level offset by the PV
(i.e. total kWh). This was estimated in
the PMP to be 4934 kWh/house/year
using a RETscreen analysis.
This parameter is measured
and no longer assumed. The
measured result for 2009 is
4272 kWh/house/year.
B3.2

Electricity
Transmission

The relevant quantity of electricity
supplied by the baseline source needs to
be adjusted upwards to account for
transmission and distribution losses. The
transmission losses are assumed to be
4%, which is the value commonly
employed by TEAM.
4
Detailed
calculations are provided in the
spreadsheet.
This parameter is estimated
based on the measured PV
generation during the project
period.
Other assumption identified in the project master plan titled "A Project
Example for Verification Case Study 1: Photovoltaic Roof Installation in Ten
R-2000 Alberta Homes, remain the same. Please refer to Section 9.1 of this
report for full details.
9.2 Baseline Element-by-Element Results
The baseline has changes from the project master plan because we now have
measured values for Category B, Element B3.1 - Electricity Production and
thus, B3.2 Electricity Transmission. PV electricity generated (kWh) was
measured for each house and summed over the project period. The summed
value was used for the calculation as to the baseline emissions. Our annual
energy production value for the solar panels in the project is 42,720kWh for
the year 2009. This results in emissions in the baseline of 956,330 kg CO
2
e.
Table 3: Baseline Element by Element Results
Category EIement identifier EIement name
kg CO2e %
Category B B3.1 Electricity production
919,548.0 5
B3.2 Electricity
transmission
36,781.9 50
TOTAL
956,330 5

Uncertainty in PV generation level
Uncertainty in the PV generation activity level (and thus, the grid electricity
displaced by the project in kWh) is changed from the PMP, for which
uncertainty was assessed in consideration of the model used to estimate kWh

4
Transmission losses quoted by M. Spannagle, Environment Canada. November 17
th
, 2004.
Project participant conference call.
9
generated. Based on the precision of the now operational PV metering
system, we have adjusted the uncertainty from 25% to 1%.
10 Quantification of GHG Emission Reductions
10.1 Procedures for Quantification of GHG Emission
Reductions
10.2 GHG Emission Reduction Results
Our project avoids emissions and during its operation does not emit any
greenhouse gases. Our upstream components in our project have been
calculated using emission factors that express the results in kg of CO
2
e. Our
baseline also expresses the emissions in kg of CO
2
e. For this, providing
results by gas component is not possible. We have provided our results in kg
of CO
2
e and in the functional unit of kg of CO
2
e/kWh. For our emission
results, we have included uncertainty estimates taking into consideration that
the electricity generation is now a measured parameter rather than an
estimate, as was the case in the project documentation.
The total GHG reduction over the 25 years for all houses is revised from the
PMP, based on our 2009 PV generation data. Reductions are outlined in the
table below.

Table 4: Emission Reductions (over 25 years) based on 2009 (kg CO
2
e)
kg CO2e %
BaseIine 956,330 5
Project 116,799 22
Emission
Reduction 839,531 7

This translates into an annual GHG reduction as follows:

Table 5: GHG emission reductions (annually)
TotaI GHGs
kg CO2e/year
BaseIine 38,253
Project 4,672
Emission Reduction 33,581

10

Table 6: Normalized Emission Reductions (kg CO
2
e/kWh)
TotaI GHGs
kg CO2e/kWh
BaseIine 0.90
Project 0.11

10.3 Sensitivity Analysis
11 Risk Management Plan
The risks in the below table were detailed in the project master plan. We
have provided our response for the construction and operation period.
Table 7: Risk Assessment
Identify Risk Assessment of Risk During
Project Construction
Assessment of Risk During
Project Operation
Technical Risks
Equipment
malfunction or
breakdown resulting in
interrupted operation
None noted None noted
Availability of trained
maintenance staff
resulting in more
frequent and longer
periods of down-time
Availability of local
service contractors
resulting in more
frequent and longer
periods of down-time
Availability and
access to replacement
parts resulting in
increased length of
down-time
Environmental & Health Risks
Acts of God No acts of God occurred during No acts of God occurred during the
11
Identify Risk Assessment of Risk During
Project Construction
Assessment of Risk During
Project Operation
lightning strike,
hurricane, ice storm
resulting in equipment
failure or down-time
the construction period operational period
Market Risks
The potential
development of a
(competing) superior
technology
No known technology has come to
market during the construction
period
No known technology has come to
market during the operation period

Policy Risks
Changes to standard
industry practices
resulting in a change
of baseline and
reduction of GHG
reduction associated
with project
No changes to standard industry
practice has appeared during the
construction period
No changes to standard industry
practice has appeared during the
operation period
Changes to future
regulations which
would change the
baseline and reduce
available GHG
reductions that could
be claimed
No changes to regulations has
appeared during the construction
period
No changes to regulations has
appeared during the operation
period
12

12 Test Plan
12.1 Array Performance Testing
The array performance testing was performed for all ten houses as outlined
in the project master plan. The testing indicated some minor problems that
were corrected prior to commissioning and resulted in all arrays performing
within manufacturers published specifications. Data is available upon
request.

12.2 Detailed monitoring during Operation of the system

Following the commissioning of the systems, detailed monitoring of the
system operation was carried out for a period of seven days. This detailed
data was analysed and it was determined that the systems were operating
properly. This testing also indicated that the monitoring plan developed
would accurately reflect the system operation for the purpose of GHG
mitigation calculations. Data is available upon request. .

13 Monitoring Plan
The results of the monitoring plan can be found in the accompanying
spreadsheet titled "Calculations for Final SMART.xls. Worksheet "PV
Generation has the solar panel power generation for each house on a
monthly basis.
14 Quality Assurance and Quality Control Plan
A QA/QC plan was developed for this project before project implementation,
but not before the preparation of the PMP. The plan is not attached here but
is available to the program authority for review upon request.
15 Reporting Plan
This is the first SMART report since the completion of the construction of the
project. As such it includes:
a) activities undertaken to date (refer to PMP and report activities
according to each component of the PMP);
b) any changes from the PMP (e.g. different procedure(s) used to assess
a project element, delays, etc.), including justification for changes and
corrective actions to minimize or avoid further changes or delays;
13
c) completed activities in accordance with PMP; and
d) next activities to be undertaken and reported in the next progress
report.
16 Conclusions and Recommendations
We experienced normal operations during the period of 2009 with no
unexpected maintenance or low radiation intensity periods. No impact to the
surrounding environment was noticed.
As a result of this project, the greenhouse gas emission reduction over 25
years is 840 tonnes of CO
2
e as shown by the below table.
Table 8: Emission Reductions (25 years)
kg CO2e %
BaseIine 956,330 5
Project 116,799 22
Emission
Reduction 839,531 7
17 Recommendations
There are no recommendations at this time.

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SMART Report: Photovoltaic Roof

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