Energy, economic, and environmental analysis of integrating a solar water heater with the power supply of dwellings in multiple Oman locations

The application of solar energy in many sectors is becoming popular due to the global commitment towards the UN's SDGs. Domestic solar water heaters (SWH) have been increasingly adopted instead of conventional systems to meet the daily hot water needs of dwellings. Since it accounts for more than 20 percent of household electricity costs, a location-based study on its energy, economic, and environmental advantages must be essential to convincing households to implement it effectively in any country. This study examines the energy conservation and levelized cost of energy (LCOE) in a sample of households from 10 distinct locations in Oman. The analysis focuses on houses with a daily hot water requirement of 200 liters. An assessment was conducted to determine how the production of hot water changes in response to solar radiation over the course of a year. Additionally, the anticipated yearly savings in energy costs and the corresponding reduction in CO2 emissions were estimated. The system advisor model (SAM) developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the United States was used to optimize the system and analyze several performance and economic aspects based on location-specific weather data.