Energy, exergy and exergoeconomic analysis are often used for assessing large energy conversion systems. However exergy and exergoeconomic analysis are rarely used when small or medium scale energy generation systems, such as community CHP/CCHP plants or microcogeneration systems are evaluated.

Energy analysis, environmental life-cycle assessment (LCA) and economic appraisals have been utilised to study the performance of a domestic building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system on a ‘whole systems’ basis. Energy analysis determined that the system paid back its embodied energy in...