Evaluation of energy supply and demand in solar neighborhood

Abstract

The paper presents a study of solar electricity generation and energy demand for heating and cooling of housing units’ assemblages. Two-story single family housing units, located in northern mid-latitude climate are considered in the study. Parameters studied include geometric shapes of individual units, their density in a neighborhood, and the site layout. The plan shapes of the housing units included in this study are rectangles and several variants of L shape. Site layouts studied are characterized by a straight road, a south-facing or a north-facing semi-circular road. Rectangular units and a site layout with straight road serve as reference for evaluating the effect of shape and site parameters. Results indicate that a significant increase in total electricity generation (up to 33%) can be achieved by the building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems of housing units of certain shape-site configurations, as compared to the reference. The energy load of a building is affected by its orientation and shape. Increased heating demand by L variants (by up to 8%) is more than offset by annual electricity production of their BIPV systems (by up to 35%). Heating and cooling loads depend significantly on unit density in a site; Attached units require up to 30% less cooling and 50% less heating than detached configurations of the same site. Variation of surface orientation, particularly in curved site layouts, enables the spread of peak electricity generation over up to 6h. This effect may be beneficial to grid supply efficiency. Energy balance assessment indicates that some unit shapes generate up to 96% of their total energy use. Neighborhood configurations studied generate between 65% and 85% of their total energy demand.