A method for evaluating both shading and power generation effects of rooftop solar PV panels for different climate zones of China

Abstract

The photovoltaic (PV) roofs have two main energy-saving effects, which are shading and power supply. Considering the shading and power generation gain jointly, a roof is changed from the building energy end to the building energy supply end, thus changing its energy use system greatly. Therefore, this paper carries out research on the comprehensive energy-saving effect integrating the shading and the power supply gain. Three types of PV rooftops, namely, horizontally-mounted overhead PV rooftop, tilted overhead PV rooftop, and attached PV rooftop are studied to explore their impacts on the heat gain and heat loss of the roof and building’s heating and cooling load. In order to estimate the overall energy-saving in different climatic regions in China, an overall energy-saving evaluation method that considers the power generation and shading benefit effects of the PV rooftop is proposed. Based on the climate and solar radiation zones in China, 13 respective cities are selected to be included in the research. The results show that, by considering only the shading effect of PV panels, the tilted PV is more suitable in summer, reducing the heat input, whereas the horizontally-mounted PV is more effective in winter to prevent more heat loss. Regarding the overall energy-saving that considers both the shading and power generation effects of PV panels, building with horizontally-mounted PV rooftop has the highest efficiency in the summer season, while the building with tilted PV rooftop has the highest efficiency in the winter season. The model and analysis of the overall energy-saving presented in this work can provide a guide for the application of rooftop solar PV panels in different climate zones in China.