POSSIBILITIES FOR INSTALLATION OF PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS IN CATERING FACILITIES IN MACEDONIA

Abstract

The energy crisis that swept across Europe and the resulting electricity price impact have highlighted the need for enhanced energy resilience. To mitigate future price fluctuations and unforeseen shocks, investments in photovoltaic (PV) systems are crucial. Hospitality establishments in Macedonia hold significant potential for reducing the country’s energy dependency and accelerating the energy transition. It is therefore essential to explore the feasibility of installing PV systems on these establishments and to assess the profitability of such investments. For an optimal analysis of PV system installation potential in the hospitality sector, data from the State Statistical Office, based on the 2021 census in Macedonia, were utilized. According to the census, there are a total of 1,006 hotels and restaurants in the country. This analysis presents the total potential installed capacity of PV systems on all hotels and restaurants in Macedonia, the predicted annual electricity generation from these systems, and the resulting avoided CO2 emissions. Since the intensity of solar radiation varies geographically, simulations were conducted for PV systems with an installed capacity of 40 kWp in each region: Vardar, Eastern, Southwestern, Southeastern, Pelagonia, Polog, Northeastern, and Skopje regions. These simulations were performed using the PV*SOL premium software, which leverages the Meteonorm database for solar radiation data to estimate annual electricity production from the PV systems. The analysis also includes case studies for a hotel and a restaurant, for which techno-economic analyses were conducted to evaluate the profitability of PV system installations.