Abstract
Photovoltaic energy generation has gained wide attention owing to its efficiency and environmental benefits. Therefore, it has become important to accurately evaluate the photovoltaic energy generation potential of building surfaces. As the number of building floors increases, the area of the facades becomes much larger than that of the roof, providing improved potential for photovoltaic equipment installation. Conventional urban solar potential evaluation methods are usually based on light detection and ranging (LiDAR). However, LiDAR can only be used in existing buildings, and the lack of semantic information in the point cloud data generated by LiDAR makes it impossible to evaluate the photovoltaic potential of facades (including details such as windows) in detail and with accuracy. In this study, we developed a method to accurately extract facades and roofs in order to evaluate photovoltaic potential based on the Industry Foundation Classes. To verify the feasibility of this approach, we used a building from Xuzhou city, Jiangsu province, China. The simulation results indicate that, out of the total building photovoltaic installable area (8995 m2), that of the facade is 8240 m2. The photovoltaic potential of the simulated building could reach 1054.69 MWh/year. The sensitivity studies of the grid resolution, the time interval and the computation time confirmed the reasonability of the determined conditions. The method proposed offers great potential for energy planning departments and the improved utilization of buildings.
Highlights
IntroductionPublisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
Based on the features and advantages of the building information modeling (BIM) and Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) introduced above, we propose that the IFC can be used to accurately assess the photovoltaic potential of building elements, such as for the facades, roofs and even the windows contained in the facades
We propose the use of IFC data to accurately assess the potential of photovoltaic energy generation on building facades and roofs
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The development of solar energy technology has become a research focus around the world [1,2]. Photovoltaic energy generation is an effective way to utilize solar energy, especially in distributed generation. Photovoltaic equipment can be placed on the surfaces of buildings, thereby avoiding the use of additional land resources [3,4]. The installation of photovoltaic equipment requires scientific, accurate and quantitative evaluation, as well as calculation of the photovoltaic energy generation potential on the building’s surface
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
