Use of Renewable Energy Sources in University Campus Microgrid – A Review

The sun as the primary source of energy can be tapped into to light our universities. With the prevailing economic recession and global warming, universities can reduce cost of electricity through a self-sustaining microgrid. The university is like a separate entity and can operate as an island with sufficient resources to meet her energy demands. Microgrid has evolved as a major technology to harness and aggregate available renewable energy sources (RES) with a view to increasing network reliability, reducing carbon footprint and reducing cost of energy. This paper reviews existing university campus microgrids (UCM) around the world, highlighting their objectives, methods, challenges and results. One of these objectives is to serve as a test-bed or laboratory in which students and faculty staff conduct research to advance modern power system. Solar Photovoltaic (Rooftop PV) remains the major RES in the implementation of UCM, however, a hybrid system is also common. The review shows that UCM if well designed among other benefits results in a significant reduction in the operation cost of the university.