Efficiency of a solar collector system for the public building depending on its location

Due to a technologic progress, a growth in the renewable energy markets including a high number of manufactures coming to being, the Renewable Energy Sources (RES) are both a tool for mitigating climate changes and investments that can provide direct economic profits and reduce a political or economic dependence resulting from import of fossil fuels. One of the many key solutions toward fulfilling the global increasing demand for energy and reduction of CO₂ emissions is applying solar technologies. This paper presents the results of the analysis conducted for a small public office building located in Bialystok (Poland), where solar collectors were considered as the RES for domestic hot water (DHW) system, on the understanding that existing oil boiler would be an additional source. Low values of recommended water consumption in office buildings resulted in a low energy demand. However, concerning a potential of all office governmental buildings in Poland, it would be possible to reduce CO₂ emission by 17,248 tonnes. In the comprehensive analysis, the same building in two more locations (Cordoba (Spain) and Kaunas (Lithuania)) was considered using simulation tools delivered within the framework of VIPSKILLS project as well as EnegyPlus software. The results allow to compare the mean monthly efficiency of systems or number of collectors necessary to deliver similar amount of solar energy.