DESIGNING ENERGY-EFFICIENT RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS FOR NIGERIA AND SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA CONSIDERING AEROGEL THERMAL INSULATION MATERIAL AND PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER GENERATION

This paper presents the design of an energy-efficient and self-sufficient residential building for the typical weather in Nigeria and by extension sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), considering aerogel material and photovoltaic power generation. Firstly, a typical residential building design of the selected region is modelled using aerogel material to minimize the energy consumption of the building while also improving its thermal comfort. Then, an isolated photovoltaic system, with an optimally sized battery energy storage system (BESS), is incorporated to make the building energy self-sufficient. The proposal aims at tackling the extreme weather condition and the recurrent power outage of the region. The outcome of the designed system shows that the use of aerogel insulation material attained a 6% reduction in the recorded mean air and operative temperatures while also maintaining acceptable range of humidity. The use of aerogel also reduces energy consumption in the building by 11.7%. Also, incorporating a PV system with an optimally sized BESS tackles power shortage issue effectively, making the building energy self-sufficient.