Midland Texas is one of the fastest growing urban population centers in the country and one of the lowest costs of electricity. This study aims to assess the potential of a grid-connected carbon-neutral community in an oil rich city using energy efficiency measures and hybrid distribute generation (DG) systems. The community includes most residential buildings including detached homes and apartment buildings. Moreover, a cost optimization analysis of various DG technologies is carried out to meet both electrical and thermal loads of the community in Midland. It is found that photovoltaics (PV) systems are the most cost-effective, while wind and combined heat and power (CHP) would not be competitive compared to the current grid energy prices. Specifically, the optimization results indicate that PV, when implemented on a large scale, can provide adequate power to meet the energy needs of the community while also meeting carbon neutrality. A PV system size of 3400 kWh is found to be required in order for the grid-connected community to be carbon neutral. While under this scenario a 100% reduction in carbon emissions is technically feasible, the cost of energy is estimated to be $0.194/kWh, almost double the current grid electricity price. However, if the capital cost of PV is decreased by 70% from its current level, the cost of energy due to the DG addition can be reduced significantly to allow the carbon-neutral design for the community to be cost competitive solution with the grid.
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