School of Chemical Engineering, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.
School of Chemical Engineering, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.
J Environ Manage. 2019 Oct 15;248:109337. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109337. Epub 2019 Aug 3.
This is the first study to assess the current status of solar photovoltaic (PV) adoption across a range of wastewater treatment plant sizes, and to identify the opportunities for solar PV in the wastewater sector. It quantifies solar PV contributions to the energy demand of the wastewater treatment plants and improves knowledge of sector-specific factors influencing PV uptake. California was used as a case study due to its high commitment to solar power and the high data availability. The study compiled and examined data on multiple wastewater treatment plant attributes from 105 Californian plants, representing 78% of total state flows. The analysis focused on the effect of three sector-specific influencing factors: size of wastewater treatment plant, presence/absence of anaerobic digestion and geographical location (urban vs rural). Solar PV adoption was observed to vary significantly with the size of the wastewater treatment plants. Of the 105 plants analysed, 41 installed a solar PV system. Of these 41, 39 were installed in wastewater treatment plants with a flow rate below 50 mega gallons day (MGD). Only two plants with flow above 50 MGD had solar PV installed. In wastewater treatment plants with a flow rate above 5 MGD, solar PV was primarily installed in hybrid configurations with anaerobic digestion. In these plants, biogas contributed 25-65% to the overall energy demand, while solar provided 8-30%. In wastewater treatment plants with a flow rates below 5 MGD, solar PV often represented the only source of renewable energy, producing 30-100% of the energy demand of these plants. Across all the plants analysed, 1 MW was the most adopted solar installation size and solar PV installations were mostly found in wastewater treatment plants in rural settings. While acknowledging multiple other factors of potential influence, these results demonstrate the role of solar PV in wastewater treatment plants under three sector-specific influencing factors. The results will support the sector in making informed decisions over solar PV investments, helping wastewater utilities to transition towards sustainable management practices.
这是第一项评估各种规模污水处理厂太阳能光伏 (PV) 采用现状并确定太阳能在污水处理领域应用机会的研究。它量化了太阳能光伏对污水处理厂能源需求的贡献，并提高了对影响光伏采用的特定于部门因素的认识。由于加利福尼亚州对太阳能的高度承诺和高数据可用性，因此选择加利福尼亚州作为案例研究。该研究从 105 家加利福尼亚工厂中编译并检查了有关多个污水处理厂属性的数据，这些工厂代表了该州总流量的 78%。分析重点关注三个特定于部门的影响因素的影响：污水处理厂的规模、是否存在厌氧消化以及地理位置（城市与农村）。太阳能光伏的采用与污水处理厂的规模有很大关系。在所分析的 105 个工厂中，有 41 个安装了太阳能光伏系统。在这 41 个中，有 39 个安装在流量低于 50 百万加仑/天 (MGD) 的污水处理厂中。只有两个流量超过 50 MGD 的工厂安装了太阳能光伏。在流量超过 5 MGD 的污水处理厂中，太阳能光伏主要与厌氧消化相结合安装。在这些工厂中，沼气对总能源需求的贡献为 25-65%，而太阳能提供 8-30%。在流量低于 5 MGD 的污水处理厂中，太阳能光伏通常是唯一的可再生能源来源，可产生这些工厂 30-100%的能源需求。在所分析的所有工厂中，1 MW 是最采用的太阳能安装规模，并且太阳能光伏装置主要安装在农村地区的污水处理厂中。虽然承认潜在影响的其他多个因素，但这些结果证明了在三个特定于部门的影响因素下太阳能光伏在污水处理厂中的作用。结果将支持该部门在太阳能光伏投资方面做出明智的决策，帮助污水处理厂向可持续管理实践过渡。
