Estimation of the Photovoltaic Potential on Rooftops in the City of San Pedro Sula, Cortés, Honduras

Abstract

Honduras is a country that is making a transition away from fossil fuels and towards sustainable energy sources. Currently in San Pedro Sula there is not an accurate data that represent an estimate of photovoltaic potential per district. Calculating an estimate of the photovoltaic potential is important to know how much decentralized energy can be replaced on the energy matrix by photovoltaic energy and thus be able to achieve an energy matrix that has 100% renewable energy in the country. In this study, we calculated an estimate of the rooftop solar power potential over ten out of the twenty districts in the city of San Pedro Sula using globally available solar radiation data from Meteonorm combined with a building polygon, the analysis of the photovoltaic potential was completed using two photovoltaic modules. The annual rooftop solar power potential in San Pedro Sula under Scenario A was of 2.04 GWp and for Scenario B was of 1.88 GWp. This approach of combining Meteonorm data with building polygons can be easily applied in other parts of the country. These findings can provide useful information for policymakers and contribute to local planning for cleaner renewable energy.