Using GIS-based methods and lidar data to estimate rooftop solar technical potential in US cities

Abstract

We estimate the technical potential of rooftop solar photovoltaics (PV) for select US cities by combining light detection and ranging (lidar) data, a validated analytical method for determining rooftop PV suitability employing geographic information systems, and modeling of PV electricity generation. We find that rooftop PV's ability to meet estimated city electricity consumption varies widely-from meeting 16% of annual consumption (in Washington, DC) to meeting 88% (in Mission Viejo, CA). Important drivers include average rooftop suitability, household footprint/ per-capita roof space, the quality of the solar resource, and the city's estimated electricity consumption. In addition to city-wide results, we also estimate the ability of aggregations of households to offset their electricity consumption with PV. In a companion article, we will use statistical modeling to extend our results and estimate national rooftop PV technical potential. In addition, our publically available data and methods may help policy makers, utilities, researchers, and others perform customized analyses to meet their specific needs.

Estimating rooftop solar technical potential across the US using a combination of GIS-based methods, lidar data, and statistical modeling

“…It extends the analysis described in a previous Environmental Research Letters article (Margolis et al 2017) …”

“…Finally, we model PV generation for all rooftops to yield technical potential estimates. Margolis et al (2017) provide a detailed description of the initial geographic information system (GIS) processing of this data set, and discussions of trends observed in the areas covered by the lidar data. In brief, we define a set of shading, tilt, azimuth, and contiguous-roof-area criteria to determine what roof area is suitable for hosting rooftop PV.…”

Rooftop Solar Technical Potential for Low-to-Moderate Income Households in the United States

“…Technical potential is a metric that quantifies the maximum generation available from a technology for a given region and does not consider the economic or market viability. This report expands upon previous NREL research investigating the rooftop solar technical potential using light detecting and ranging (LiDAR) scans of individual rooftops in 128 metro regions (Gagnon et al 2018;Margolis et al 2017;Gagnon et al 2016;Phillips and Melius 2016 3. Finally, low-and moderate-income households interact with a vast web of nonprofit entities (e.g., churches, schools, public sites, homeless shelters, subsidized housing).…”

Site suitability analysis of Solar PV Power generation in South Gonder, Amhara Region

“…In locating suitable areas for solar power plants ArcGIS10.4.1 was used. To analysis site suitability, none suitable sites were excluded like towns, water bodies, schools/protected areas and the weight of criteria was formulated for decision making [6][7][8]. Data set rasterizing and reclassifying have been conducted on vectors and raster layers like solar irradiance, distance from roads, towns, soil, slope, land use land cover, forest, stream and distance from school areas respectively.…”