Performance simulation and optimization of building façade photovoltaic systems under different urban building layouts

Abstract

Urban building layout has an important influence on the formation of shadows on building façades, and photovoltaic (PV) power generation performance is greatly affected by shadows. However, there is limited research on detailed modeling of the power generation of photovoltaic systems on facades with different building layouts. In this paper, according to different urban building layouts, an annual dynamic shadow model of the building and a mathematical model of PV array power generation were established and validated. Then the model was used to calculate the annual power generation hour by hour, optimize the PV array topology, and analyze the shadow shading ratio and PV power generation performance of different building layouts. The results show that 95 % of the best topologies of all partially shaded façades in the four layouts are Total-Cross-Tied (Vertical and Horizontal); the highest annual shading ratio is layout 4 with a value of 60.161 %, the largest annual power generation is layout 3, but layout 4 has the highest broad generation efficiency, with layouts 1, 2, and 3 lower than it by 4.29 %, 0.20 %, and 0.11 %, respectively. This paper provides new ideas for the early design of building layouts and the performance research of PV systems.