Demand for cloud-based applications and remote digital storage is increasing. As
such, data center capacities will need to expand to support this shift in computing.
Data centers consume substantial amounts of electricity in support of their
operations, and larger data centers will mean that more energy is consumed. To
reduce electricity bills, data center operators must explore innovative options, and
this thesis proposes leveraging solar technology for this purpose. Three different
photovoltaic and concentrated photovoltaic costing scenarios, as well as four
different Ontario-based electricity tariff scenarios – time-of-use, feed-in tariff, power
purchase agreement, and a peak-dependent electricity charge involving the
province’s global adjustment fee – will be used to determine if there is a business
case for using solar technology at data centers in Ontario to reduce energy costs.
Discounted net present value, return on investment, internal rate of return, and
levelized cost of electricity will be calculated to determine the economic viability of
solar for this application, and both deterministic and stochastic results will be
provided. Sensitivity of the four metrics to variability from energy yield, operations
and maintenance costs, as well as system prices will also be presented.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/34324 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Tomosk, Steven |
| Contributors | Wright, David |
| Publisher | Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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