Abstract
Solar energy constitutes one of the most effective alternative energy sources for combating climate change. However, the solar potential in a city can vary depending on the urban morphology. The purpose of this paper is to perform a directional statistical analysis of the distribution of the monthly solar potential of rooftops in the city of Cáceres, Spain, in relation to the orientations and slopes of the rooftops. Two residential areas, one in the city center and one on the outskirts of the city, and an industrial zone, all of which exhibit different urban morphologies, have been evaluated. Statistics have been assessed in consideration of the orientation and slope values of the rooftops as circular data, and the radiation values as linear data. The three dissimilar urban morphologies result in different solar potential values, and the monthly disaggregation of the data enables the ability to detect the differences existing in the solar potential between each zone, during each month. The proposed analysis could also be extrapolated to urban planning for the design of more sustainable cities to face the challenges associated with climate change.
Highlights
Low-carbon electricity production using photovoltaic (PV) panels or building-integrated PVs on rooftops contributes to an increased use of renewable energies [1,2]
The proposed analysis could be extrapolated to urban planning for the design of more sustainable cities to face the challenges associated with climate change
Among the various sources of renewable energy, the utilization of solar energy represents one of the most effective methods for combating climate change, and solar energy is supported by governments and policy makers worldwide [3]
Summary
Low-carbon electricity production using photovoltaic (PV) panels or building-integrated PVs on rooftops contributes to an increased use of renewable energies [1,2]. The use of solar energy has generated the need to assess the solar potential of cities throughout developing countries [4]. Many solar potential models have been developed [5,6]. The amount of solar energy that reaches the terrestrial surface depends on the local weather conditions, atmospheric effects, surveying, orientation, and the slope and solar incident angle in the study area [7]. Several works have concluded that the abovementioned models can be adjusted to accommodate small study zones [9,10]; greatly increasing the number of potential studies for investigating the solar potential of cities in developed countries [11,12]
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