Assessment Method to Identify the Potential of Rooftop PV Systems in the Residential Districts

Saad Odeh and Tri Hieu Nguyen
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Saad Odeh: Senior Fellow of HEA, Sydney Institute of Business and Technology, Sydney City Campus, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
Tri Hieu Nguyen: Mechanical Engineering, Sydney City Campus, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 14, 1-11

Abstract: The installation of rooftop PV systems in residential buildings and dwellings has increased rapidly in the past decade, and these systems have become a major source of renewable energy in many countries. This paper presents a new method of estimating the potential of rooftop PV systems to meet energy demands in residential districts by introducing a roof suitability factor. The method of assessment is based on an online tool called SunSPot, which uses a solar radiation heat map layer of building roofs and the PVSYST solar performance software. A sample of 400 houses from four suburbs considered in the Sydney City Council 2030 sustainability plan was selected to conduct the performance analysis of rooftop PV systems and develop a formula that can estimate the suburban annual energy production. The results show that if the dwelling roofs in residential suburbs could be covered by PV arrays it would produce enough electricity to exceed the local electricity demand and, in some suburbs, a surplus of more than 87%.

Keywords: rooftop pv system; solar electricity; heat map; roof usable area (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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