ECOS: Solar Potential Assessment on Roofs of Urban Areas and its Integration

This article integrates solar potential in a given urban area for the competing technologies of Photovoltaic and thermal collectors. On an urban level, scalable from several buildings to whole cities, the authors examine the possibility of solar power integration for space heating, hot water production and in addition with electrical power. The definition of system contains no longer only the heating technologies but is enhanced by the boundaries of the urban district and its demand. The proposed methodology provides a target driven solution that evaluates and optimizes the decision process to enhance the cost benefit ratio for the solar panels to be installed. In addition, it addresses typical questions such as which solar technology should be preferentially applied and what installation size makes sense for a given geographical area. By linking the thermal and electrical requirements with the solar potential within a given urban area, an underrepresented aspect in urban planning is addressed; especially because space is rare and often costly.