Title:	Validation of a Façade PV Potential Model Based on LiDAR Data
Author(s):	S.R. Freitas, M.C. Centeno Brito
Keywords:	Potential, BIPV, Solar, LiDAR, Building Facades
Topic:	PV System Performance and Integration
Subtopic:	Building, Infrastructure and Landscape Applications
Event:	33rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition
Session:	6DO.11.6
Pages:	2135 - 2142
ISBN:	3-936338-47-7
Paper DOI:	10.4229/EUPVSEC20172017-6DO.11.6
Price:	0,00 EUR
Document(s):	paper

Abstract/Summary:

---

Cities have huge potential for PV applications, namely in the façades of buildings that feature high available surface area. Thanks to the advancements in computational technologies, full 3D calculations of solar radiation over Digital Surface Models of urban areas are now possible and the solar potential of façades can finally be quantified. The use of airborne LiDAR data has become more popular for this purpose, since it is an easy method of data acquisition for large areas. In this work, the solar potential model SOL, a LiDAR-based algorithm able to compute hourly solar irradiation for all the points of a DSM, was validated against electricity production records from a façade integrated PV system installed in the Solar XXI building, in Lisbon. Results point out that SOL estimations fairly agree with the measurements, featuring nMBE ranging from around 8% to 51%, nMAE from 20% to 58% and nRMSE from 29% to 81% - higher values for winter time. Most of these deviations are attributed to fine scale limitations on the rendering of shadows since the DSM only has a 1m2 resolution but results highlight the need for improvement of the diffuse radiation model, currently isotropic, which should portray more accurately the circumsolar and reflected components and the anisotropy characteristic of semi-cloudy sky conditions.