Engineering Ethics, Sustainability, and Regeneration at WPI

Roberts, Joshua

Student Work

Engineering Ethics, Sustainability, and Regeneration at WPI

Public Deposited

The objective of this research project is to create a plan to install solar arrays on WPI’s campus. This is important because the Earth is being destroyed by carbon emissions from nonrenewable energy sources like natural gas. Also, Massachusetts has been restricting carbon emissions from private entities in recent years, so using solar panels is a way to reduce our carbon emissions. An IQP done in 2017 had a similar objective statement . They designed 12 arrays for different buildings, parking lots, and parking garages and those arrays could produce 7% of WPI’s electricity consumption for FY16 (Brest et al. 2017). My project designed two arrays, one for Olin Hall and one for the Recreation Center. They were designed using Helioscope, an online solar array design program owned and operated by Aurora Solar. After the arrays were made in Helioscope, their total production of electricity over a 25 year lifetime was found with a 0.7% degradation in equipment each year. Their carbon offset was found using Hosenuzzman et al.’s report on the environmental impact of solar panels (Hosenuzzman et al. 2014). The cost of the arrays was found using NREL’s report on the cost of building solar arrays for Q1: 2020. Figure 21 on page 34 was used mostly for finding the cost (Feldman et al. 2021). The two arrays together would produce 514.84 MWh in their first year in operation and 11,845.69 MWh of electricity over 25 years. The arrays would offset 5.69×106 kg of CO2 over 25 years and that’s the equivalent of burning about 440,000 gallons of gasoline. The upfront cost of the Olin Hall array is estimated to be $117,249 and the Recreation Center would be $571,040. The savings on the electricity bill over the lifetime of the arrays would be $3,838,003.16 and the payback period would be less than 6 years. The short payback period for the cost of the arrays, high ROI on the electricity savings, and the large amount of rooftop space to install the panels makes the designs appear to be feasible to implement. Installing solar arrays would benefit WPI by helping the school’s progress towards goals set in the 2020-2025 Sustainability Plan and it can give people a more favorable view of WPI. Also, the reduction in carbon emissions will slow the impact of climate change worldwide. WPI’s large network of connections could influence more people to invest in solar energy too.

This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

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