Effects of urban compactness on solar energy potential

Mohajeri, Nahid; Upadhyay, Govinda; Guðmundsson, Ágúst; Assouline, Dan; Kämpf, Jérôme Henri; Scartezzini, J.-L.

doi:10.1016/j.renene.2016.02.053

Cited by 166 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Amongst these factors, the urban morphology, namely through geometry, should be also considered in the energy performance assessment [115] and, in this topic, urban form and density assume an essential role, mainly due to the shading effect that buildings produce on each other, which can make unfeasible some design strategies related to solar availability. In literature, the key solution for the energy efficiency of urban buildings and for achieving an NZEB at a district scale is related to the solar potential of urban areas, and how buildings' shape can affect solar availability, energy demand and energy supply [116][117][118][119][120][121][122][123][124].…”

Section: Why Should Nzeb Take Into Account the Urban Context In The Ementioning

confidence: 99%

A review on current advances in the energy and environmental performance of buildings towards a more sustainable built environment

Soares

Bastos

Pereira

et al. 2017

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

175

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Nowadays, debates addressing climate change, fossil fuels depletion and energy security highlight the need for a more sustainable built environment in order to reduce energy consumption and emission trends in the buildings sector. Meeting these targets is a challenge that calls for innovative research to improve the use of renewable energy sources, new technologies, and holistic tools and methodologies. Such research should integrate the dynamics and main drivers of energy supply and demand in buildings to support new policies, plans and actions towards lowering the built environment burdens. This paper brings together ten research topics concerning the energy and environmental performance of buildings, which can support a shift towards a more sustainable built environment. Background information and state of the art literature on the covered research topics is briefly summarized, gaps are identified and guidelines for future research are provided. The selected topics cover different stages along the lifetime of buildings (from design and operation, to retrofitting and endof-life), different scale approaches (from building elements/components, to the building, district and urban scales), and different methods to assess the energy and environmental performance of buildings (life-cycle assessment, generative design methods and retrofitting tools). Other topics are discussed such as: nearly zero-energy buildings, the control of domestic energy resources in smart grid scenarios, the need to include end-users' behaviors in the dynamics of energy demand, the advantages of improving thermal storage by using phase change materials, the importance of reducing heating and cooling energy demand (maintaining indoor thermal comfort), and the optimization of heating and cooling fluids, and their system control.

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Section: Why Should Nzeb Take Into Account the Urban Context In The Ementioning

confidence: 99%

A review on current advances in the energy and environmental performance of buildings towards a more sustainable built environment

Soares

Bastos

Pereira

et al. 2017

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

175

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Mohajeri et al [47] underlined that urban settings are not always appropriate for solar energy applications and that preliminary checks are necessary to ensure that panels are not installed in the shade of surrounding structures. In past years, several methods to estimate available roof area and solar potential at the urban level for solar energy generation have been established [48,49], thereby ensuring an actual return on the investment.…”

Section: Solar Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

RES Implementation in Urban Areas: An Updated Overview

Delponte

Schenone

2020

Sustainability

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In the past, national energy planning guided the development of a central program for infrastructure investment over a defined time period. However, in the current geopolitical context, environmental damage, fossil fuel depletion, and territorial imbalance caused by the centralised energy model are all factors that require a change of energy structure, establishing actions to invest in energy diversification, and solid commitment to local renewable energies. This also implies an enhancement of the role played by local bodies, and particularly by municipalities, in achieving the targets of the Kyoto Protocol and now of the Paris Agreement, because renewable sources need to be studied, applied, and exploited at the local scale. Within this framework, this paper is organized as an overview on the promotion and implementation of the major RES technologies in the deployment of the new energy paradigm at the urban scale, taking into account multiple targets. A survey of existing literature underlines how the RES topic is mostly approached as a problem of energy supply and implementation of technology, but actual sustainability in terms of a social development process and improvement of quality of life by residents is often neglected. Then, this overview stimulated the authors to highlight three main critical issues and gaps and support the need of an all-encompassing approach as a final recommendation for a general RES urban planning advancement.

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“…Such studies require GIS data at very high resolution (better than 1 m), which are usually provided by light detection and ranging (LiDAR) techniques and sophisticated shading analyses Jakubiec and Reinhart 2013;Le et al 2016;Martínez-Rubio et al 2016;Mohajeri et al 2016;Santos et al 2014;Tooke et al 2012). With the introduction of powerful, easy-to-use software tools and web pages, such as Solar Advisor Model (SAM), 3 Greenius, 4 RETScreen, 5 Global Atlas for Renewable Energy, 6 or the Solar Power Prospector website, 7 many analysts now expect to use maps and time-dependent modeling of their prospective solar systems as part of the preliminary analysis.…”

Section: The Site Screening Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

Best Practices Handbook for the Collection and Use of Solar Resource Data for Solar Energy Applications: Second Edition

2017

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Designing, financing, and operating successful solar heating, concentrating solar power, and photovoltaic systems requires reliable information about the solar resource available and its variability over time. In the past, seasonal and daily variability has been studied and understood; however, with new solar technologies becoming more important in energy supply grids, small time-scale effects are critical to successful deployment of these important low carbon technologies. A vital part of the bankability of solar projects is to understand the variability of the solar resource so that supply and storage technologies can be optimized.This handbook is the result of 10 years of international collaboration carried out by experts from the International Energy Agency's (IEA's) Solar Heating and Cooling (SHC), Solar PACES, and Photovoltaic Power Systems Technology Collaboration Programmes. Under IEA SHC Task 46: Solar Resource Assessment and Forecasting, experts from 11 countries produced information products and best practices on solar energy resources that will greatly benefit project developers and system operators as well as assist policymakers in advancing renewable energy programs worldwide.Meteorologists, mathematicians, solar technology specialists, and other key solar resource experts from around the world joined forces to further our understanding of the sun's temporal and spatial variability through benchmarking satellite-derived solar resource data and solar forecasts, developing best practices for measuring the solar resource, and conducting research to improve satellite-based algorithms. The results of IEA SHC Task 46 are useful to a wide range of users of solar heating and cooling, photovoltaics, and concentrating solar power systems and of building developers and owners as well as anyone else who needs to understand and predict sunlight for agricultural or other purposes.The earlier edition of the handbook, which was published in 2015, is used worldwide as a reference for each stage of a solar energy project. Since that time, there has been substantial growth in the interest in high-quality "bankable" solar resource data. This revision adds significant new methods so it will be even more useful.This publication is a summary that details the fundamentals of solar resources as well as captures the state of the art. For those wanting more depth, it also provides the references where more detailed information can be found.I would like to acknowledge the leadership of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and express appreciation to the U.S. Department of Energy for producing the handbook and incorporating results from IEA SHC Task 46. Ken Guthrie Chair, IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Technology Collaboration Programme June 2017This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory at www.nrel.gov/publications. Preface Dave Renné Dave Renné Renewables, LLCAs the world looks for carbon-free sources to meet final energy demand associated with heat, electrical power, and transport, ...

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Effects of urban compactness on solar energy potential

Cited by 166 publications

References 20 publications

A review on current advances in the energy and environmental performance of buildings towards a more sustainable built environment

A review on current advances in the energy and environmental performance of buildings towards a more sustainable built environment

RES Implementation in Urban Areas: An Updated Overview

Best Practices Handbook for the Collection and Use of Solar Resource Data for Solar Energy Applications: Second Edition

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